New Way of Life
by Ivorycat
Summary: Pre-Conviction: While Angel's gang is preparing to move into W&H, Angel is cursed, again, by an angered demoness. What's the curse? Humanity. Not as happy as it sounds. Buffy and company have to help him adjust to the new life. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1 Drained

**New Way of Life**

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 1

          Angel sat a large box on top of his desk in his soon to be former office at the Hyperion hotel. He began to pack random things into the box, mainly things that would be of little use at his new and much bigger office at Wolfram and Hart; small box of paper clips, old pencils and pens. The only things he considered of real value were the photos of his friends, including Cordelia, Fred, Gunn, Wesley, and even a few shots of Lorne with baby Connor. The photos were Angel's sole link to his son and no one was allowed to view them, especially since the gang was in most of the pictures.

          The vampire still couldn't believe it. Three years at the hotel and soon it would all be just a memory. He had asked himself the same question for the past four days, since Lilah had approached them with the offer of a lifetime, or the end of lifetime as members of Angel's team considered it. Was this the right thing to do? Should they just turn back? And if they did turn back, would Wolfram and Hart declare, "No backsies," then destroy them all?

          "Hello? Angel Investigations," Angel heard Fred's voice from his ajar office door. "Yes, the fliers are right. We'll be changing offices in a couple of days. What? OK, please calm down. A nest near your apartment? Sure, we can. Just give us your name and the location."

          Angel left his office and entered the lobby where more packing was going on. Gunn stood near the weapons cabinet, loading the weaponry into a trunk. Wesley, although he didn't have many items left at the hotel, had been over to help out and busily went through some old files. Fred leaned over the front desk, writing down the information of the person she was speaking to.

          "What's going on, Fred?" Angel asked the petite young woman when she was done writing.

          "A few vampires and demons have taken up residency in an abandoned building on Forest Drive," Fred explained. "A man on the phone is frantic. He thinks one of the vampires grabbed his daughter tonight, but he's powerless to do anything."

          "Cool," Gunn said, picking up an ax from the trunk. "Let's go. Love to do whatever last bit of good we can before we join forces with Evil Incorporated."

          Angel had to agree with the black man, even though he was sure Gunn was just looking forward to getting his hands dirty more than anything.

          "Is this everything we have to go on?" Angel asked, coming up to the desk.

          "Yes," Fred replied. "Did you want any help on this? Wes, Lorne, and I could—"

          "It's OK," Angel cut her off. "Gunn and I can handle this one."

          "Are you sure?" Wesley chimed in, walking up to the front desk. "We don't know what kind of demons we're dealing with. It could be dangerous."

          "We live in danger," Angel reminded him. "Gunn?"

          Gunn tossed him a crossbow before saying, "Let's do this."

          Meanwhile, in a large hotel in Rome, Buffy lay across a bed in a room she had occupied ever since she, Giles, and the others had escaped Sunnydale. She and Dawn were house hunting of course, but they'd also had little luck. It wasn't too bad, though. Their hotel was beautiful and their room was pretty spacious. A knock came at the door then, making Buffy glance up from the mindless doodles she had been doing.

          "Who is it?" Buffy asked, approaching the door, putting her hand to the knob.

          "A vicious, cold blooded killer," Dawn's voice replied.

          "What's your business?"

          "Hello! I've come to viciously kill you in cold blood."

          "Oh, OK." Buffy smiled and opened the door for Dawn. "Forgot your key again?"

          "I didn't forget it," Dawn said, stepping into the room. "I just didn't remember it."

          "Of course." Buffy glanced out into the hall before closing the door. She and her friends occupied most of the fourth floor. It felt like they were living in a dorm sometimes.

          "I love my bouncy bed," Dawn sighed, hugging a pillow against her. "We so have to move in here permanently."

          "Willow and Kennedy have been searching the net looking for apartments," Buffy reminded her. "Anyway, are you hungry? I called Xander up a couple minutes ago and put him in a very pizza mood. And I don't think they eat anything here that isn't smothered in sauce." Xander had slowly come around after Anya's death, which had hit him pretty hard.

          "Sure," Dawn smiled at her. "Oh, and we have to have wine."

          "You're not drinking wine," Buffy said automatically, grabbing her room key before heading out the door.

          "Come on. It's all juice here," Dawn said, going after her.

          "Good. We'll get you grape juice." Dawn just pouted a little as she and Buffy went across to Xander's room.

          Angel pulled up in front of the abandoned building Fred had been talking about. No matter what they were, demon, vampire, they all seemed to live somewhere that involved the word abandoned. He and Gunn climbed out of Angel's Plymouth and headed for the building, looking to see just how dilapidated it was. The building didn't look too old; in fact, it had probably just been abandoned for about a year.

          "Ready?" Angel asked the other man.

          "Should be asking you," Gunn said, walking ahead of Angel.

          Angel headed after him, caring less if Gunn took the lead. He had been right, though. They might as well get some good in before the evil that was Wolfram and Hart became one with them.

          The two of them knelt down and glanced into a small opening in the building. Inside, at least a dozen vampires were scattered along with a couple of demons, which were all either a shade of green or blue. A young girl, no older than fourteen, sat bound and gagged in a chair, looking so frightened her skin looked to be two tones paler than Angel's.

          Gunn and Angel swarmed into the building then, letting off their usual puns before going to work. Gunn used his ax to both knock out and chop off the heads of a couple of demons, feeling the usual sensation that came with destroying evil flow through him. Angel took out a few vampires with the crossbow then tossed it aside in impatience before pulling a stake out of his pocket, which seemed to do quicker damage.

          "Gunn," Angel directed. "Get the girl out of here. Take her to her father."

          "On it," Gunn said. He went around and cut the girl's ropes with his ax then removed the gag from her face. She immediately threw her arms around his neck, hugging him, thanking him, and sobbing into his shirt. "Easy. Come on now." He led her out of the building while Angel continued to fight.

          "Stop this," a voice echoed as soon as Angel was gone. A woman stepped out and glanced down at the fight, which had immediately halted at her command. "What is this?"

          Angel glanced up at her in surprise. The woman looked to be in her late twenties. She had long, brown hair and either hazel or green eyes; Angel couldn't tell.

          "Why are they always pretty?" he asked himself.

          "What matter of beast are you?" the woman asked him.

          "They call me Angel," he replied. "Sorry to break up your party, but the neighbors were complaining."

          The woman glanced down in horror at the empty chair. "Where is my sacrifice?" she demanded.

          "What? The little girl?" Angel asked. "Yeah, I think we need to go over the laws of child abduction."

          The woman's eyes seemed to flare up as she said in rage, "You have stolen my sacrifice." Her eyes actually flamed up as she said, "How dare you?"

          "It was pretty easy," Angel said, looking around at the few vampires and one demon that were left. "You didn't hire a very good staff here. I'd consider cutting their pension."

          "You dare to mock me?" the woman put a hand to her chest in insult then she pointed a finger at him. "What matter of man are you?"

          "Not exactly what you call a man, lady."

          "An immortal…" she formed a look as if to get an idea. Then she smiled wickedly, but it was from joy. "From this moment on your strength, your powers… are mine."

          Angel gasped out in pain as something, like a gun shot, seemed to go through him. He got to his knees, unable to stop groaning as the pain continued, going from a shot to a stabbing ache.

          Gunn stepped back into the building then, horrified at the sight. Some kind of dark energy seemed to be floating right out of Angel. "Angel!" he exclaimed, running up as the darkness faded. "Angel?" Gunn turned him over, seeing even more paleness in his face than ever before. He wasn't moving, but still alive. Gunn noticed that he was really alive; he had a pulse.

          Gunn didn't really have time to question it as he noticed the leftover vampires heading his way. Normally he'd just take them all out one by one, but he couldn't risk them getting to Angel. Gunn lifted Angel up, draping one of the man's arms over him then carried him out. He propped Angel up in the passenger's seat of the Plymouth then drove off at mad speed.

          Back at the hotel, Fred flipped through an old photo album. A photo album that was clearly before her time because it featured pictures of Cordelia with her hair long, brown, and straight. Wesley still wore glasses and an enthusiastic smile on his face. There were a few pictures of Gunn as well, some that were taken when he wasn't looking, as he wore a very dissatisfied look on his face.

          Wesley looked up to see Gunn carrying Angel, who was still out, into the lobby. "Gunn?" Wesley said in surprised.

          "Oh, my God." Fred went around the front desk and headed up to Gunn. "Charles, what happened?"

          "I don't even know," Gunn replied. "Help me with him."

          Wesley went up and put Angel's other arm over his shoulders and he and Gunn proceeded to carry the older man up the stairs, Fred following behind them. Gunn and Wesley gently lay Angel on the bed in his room.

          "What happened?" Fred repeated her earlier question, never taking her worried eyes off of Angel.

          "I left for a hot minute to take the little girl back to her father and I come back and some broad is sucking the juices out of Angel," Gunn attempted to explain.

          "Did you get a good look at her?" Wesley asked.

          "Didn't get a real chance," Gunn replied.

          "Hey, what's all the—?" Lorne stopped in his tracks, spotting Angel. "Oh, no. Angel down. I repeat, Angel down."

          "He's got a pulse," Gunn suddenly remembered, wondering how he could have forgotten.

          "Who?" Fred and Wesley asked in unison.

          "Him. Angel."

          "This Angel?" Lorne asked, pointing.

          Fred sat next to Angel on the bed and reached towards his throat. "That can't be… right." Her fingers touched down on where his heartbeat was its strongest. "Oh, my God."

          "Got to be old girl's mojo," said Gunn.

          "This is impossible," Wesley said.

          "We can't even worry about this," said Fred, the same concern in her voice. "He has a heartbeat, but it's a slow one. Angel is not well. I feel chills over him." She reached out to touch his forehead. "He has a fever, too. It's scorching."

          "Damn, she hit him hard," Gunn said.

          "Wesley, time the pull up the books," said Lorne to the former watcher.

          "Right," Wesley agreed, getting up. "We have to find out what's happened to him."

          "You have to hurry," Fred said, almost desperately. "He's sick and fading… fast."

A/N: There's more to come where this came from. I don't know if there's confusion with the timeline or anything, but if there are any questions ask. Please review!


	2. Chapter 2 He Can't Stay Here

**New Way of Life**

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 2

Fred sat on the side of Angel's bed, close to him. She wrung out a rag that had been soaking in ice water and patted it against his forehead. His fever just didn't seem to be getting any better. Angel let off moans every now and then, but he still wasn't even close to alert. Fred's heart ached badly for him, her concern growing by the minute. Her poor hero.

"Oh, Angel," she said softly. "What's happening to you?"

Gunn stood in the doorway, his careful brown eyes watching them. How could he have been so stupid? Why had he left Angel alone with the rest of those vampires and demons? Angel was more than known for being able to handle himself, but Gunn still should have known better. He looked on as Fred dabbed at Angel's forehead with the cold rag again, Angel letting off another moan.

Downstairs, Wesley sat behind the main desk, his face buried in a thick book, trying to find out just what was wrong with Angel. He had little to go on and what he did have wasn't exactly the most helpful.

"Geez," Lorne sighed, entering the hotel. "Dead night out there."

Wesley looked up at him. "Lorne, any luck?"

"Not a bit on the mojo girl Gunn was talking about," Lorne replied. "But I have every contact of mine on it. They should be able to dig up something."

Wesley just nodded, clearly a little disappointed at the lack of good news.

"Hey," Gunn greeted quietly as he and Fred headed down the stairs, going into the lobby.

"How is he?" Wesley asked.

"He's OK right now," Fred said. "His chills have eased a little, but his body is starting to get too warm and his fever is getting worse."

"Great," Lorne sighed again.

"What about you?" Fred asked Wesley. "Do you know who this woman is that poisoned Angel or whatever she did to him?"

"I haven't found anything," said Wesley. "Gunn, are you sure you didn't at least get a look at her?"

Gunn shook his head, attempting to think. "Got a flash of brown hair I think. She drained some kind of dark light from Angel, but that's all I got."

Wesley sighed deeply as if to make a decision. "Angel's only getting worse and we can't help him here."

"Maybe it's time to bring in Wolfram and Hart," Fred suggested. "They have resources that we don't and they could probably—"

"No," Wesley cut her off immediately. "We still cannot trust Wolfram and Hart. We don't know what they have planned for Angel."

"Plus them finding out Angel's completely alive and sort of kicking, not the best scenario," Lorne said.

"It's not good for any demons to find out that the world's champion has fallen," said Wesley. He stared into everyone's eyes seriously, showing that he wasn't kidding in the least. "He can't stay here."

Fred looked at him in bewilderment. "Wesley, what are you talking about? Where's he supposed to go?"

"Away." Wesley went around the desk before continuing. "The only other place where we can guarantee his safety is with Buffy."

"Buffy?" Fred repeated. That name had caused a dagger like feeling in her heart once. Luckily, afterwards she immediately got over her crush on Angel. "How are we supposed to reach her?"

"Angel said she was in Rome the last they spoke," said Wesley. "We have to call her up. She's the only one who can protect Angel in this state."

"Well, one of us has to go with him," Fred insisted. "He can't even move."

"I'll go," Gunn suddenly volunteered. All attention turned to him.

"Gunn, that's all right, but I should be the one," said Wesley. "I am the only one here who knows Buffy and the others."

"No, I got it," said Gunn. "Just give me some names and an address and I'm good. Besides, y'all need to stay here and keep this research going. See what you can find."

"All right," Wesley gave in, deciding not to argue the issue. "I'll phone Buffy's hotel. It's been years. She'll more than likely be thrilled to hear a familiar voice."

"Hello?" Buffy greeted into the phone. She and Dawn had just made it back to their room. "Oh, Wesley." The Slayer rolled her eyes, making Dawn laugh from where she sat on her bed. "Is this an apocalyptic thing? What?" Buffy's face flushed with concern. "Is he OK?"

Dawn got up from her bed and went to stand at her sister's side. "What is it, Buffy?"

"Are you serious? That can't be right." Buffy's heart actually skipped a beat. Angel human? It couldn't be. "Yeah, it's fine with me," Buffy continued her conversation. "The day after tomorrow? We'll be ready. Thanks for letting me know. Bye." She hung up then, the worried expression still on her face.

"Buffy, come on," Dawn nudged eagerly. "What was that about?"

"That was Wesley," Buffy explained, turning to her. "Angel got hurt in a fight and some demon lady put a hex on him or something."

"What happened to him?"

"He's human."

"He's—" Dawn stopped, realizing what her sister had just said. "Human? As in no more… grr?"

"Exactly." Buffy turned to pick up the phone again.

"Are you calling the others?" Dawn asked.

"No, I'm phoning downstairs. I have to tell them to send up a cot for Angel."

"But wait. Shouldn't we be telling everyone else about this? I mean from what I heard Angel will be here this week. Won't that be just a little shockish?"

"You're right," Buffy admitted with a sigh. "Come on. We'll call everyone's room and tell them to get over here. It'll be like a team meeting thing."

A few minutes later the Scooby gang, which wasn't as big as it used to be, was gathered in Buffy and Dawn's hotel room. Willow sat in an armchair while Kennedy sat on the armrest of the chair, her arm draped across the top of it. Xander sat next to Dawn on her bed, Xander's mouth never closing as Buffy explained the situation.

"OK," Xander started once Buffy was done. "My first reaction is… what the hell? While my second reaction is… what the friggin' hell?"

"I know it's a lot to take in," Buffy said.

"More than just a little, Buff," Willow piped up. "I mean this is Angel and he's coming here right out of the blue."

"Who is this Angel guy?" Kennedy asked, shaking her head in confusion.

Willow turned to her, realizing she had never exactly explained the Angel saga. "He used to be Buffy's boyfriend," she told her simply.

"Her psychotic, killer, not to mention _vampire_ boyfriend," Xander added.

"Vampire?" Kennedy broke in.

"And whenever he's around stuff happens," Xander continued, his attention focused on Buffy. "You know like murders of people we like."

"Xander, you know that was a long time ago," said Buffy. "He's more than changed. He's gone to hell and back, literally."

"Oh, he's changed," Xander chortled with sarcasm. "Good one, Buffy. Using one of the classic excuses. We all know that the second you two are around each other that—"

"He's human now," Dawn spoke up, helping out her sister. "He does good and everything."

"Human?" Xander scoffed. "Sure that wasn't a tummy rumble watcher boy heard instead of a heartbeat?"

"Listen," Willow broke in. "Guys, can't we debate about this later? Angel's going to be here on Wednesday and we could all use some sleep and happy thoughts before the big reunion."

"Fine," Buffy agreed, releasing a breath. "Will, you want to come with me to the airport when he gets here?"

"Sure," the witch nodded with a little smile.

She stood then and headed out of the room, Kennedy right behind her. "Willow," Kennedy said once they'd returned to their own room, which was down the hall. "What's going on here? Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this guy? And what did Xander mean by vampire?"'

Willow sighed, wondering where to begin. "Well, he actually is… sort of a vampire. Think about Spike, only cuddlier." Kennedy gave her a look and she immediately added, "Not that I know from past experiences."

"He and Buffy have major history?" Kennedy asked, sticking her hands into her pockets.

"Major history?" Willow repeated incredulously. "That nowhere near begins that saga that is them. Angel was her boyfriend, Kennedy. Her _real_ boyfriend. I'd never seen Buffy look that way towards anyone and total vise versa."

Kennedy still looked confused. "Then why aren't they still together?"

"A whole weird gypsy curse thing. They get together, perfect happiness results, and Angel turns into someone else. A killing spree someone else."

"Wow." Kennedy thought for a minute. "Does she date any living guys?"

"Well, yeah, but they're all pretty stale. And technically Angel's not dead anymore… I think."

"Everything is so weird. I mean I've only been a Slayer for a few days, but I know how this works. Slayer kills vampire. I never heard the part about Slayer loving not one, but two vamps."

"Actually, I think Spike was the only one in love in that scenario," Willow said. "Not really sure."

Kennedy sighed. "I'm going to bed." She went and lay in the queen sized bed. "Hopefully my head will be nice and clear in the morning."

A/N: Enjoyed this part? If you did, let me know. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome to Rome

**New Way of Life**

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 3

          "Angel? Angel, can you hear us?"

          Angel moaned and poked his eyes open narrowly, getting a blurred image of Fred and Wesley, who stood behind her. All pain dawned on him at once, causing Angel to let off a sharp groan, not used to such pain simultaneously.

          "What's going on?" Angel managed to ask, letting off short breaths.

          "Angel, it's Fred," she said gently. "Listen, we have to get you out of here. Don't worry. You're going somewhere safe."

          "What do you mean?" Angel's head ached with soreness and confusion.

          Gunn glanced at his watch to see that it read nine o'clock. "Get him up," he said. "That plane leaves at eleven on the dot and you know if they say eleven that means at least ten."

          "Angel, come on." Wesley went around and lifted Angel up. "We have to get you out of here. Try to move."

          "I…" Angel finally realized it. "My chest… it's…"

          "Your heartbeat?" Lorne supplied, entering the room. "Fun sensation, isn't it? You should feel it in your lower buttocks area, even bigger rush."

          "Angel, can you stand?" Wesley asked, holding him steady.

          "I don't know." Angel shook his head a little. "What happened to me?" Wesley let him go and Fred immediately went to stand at his side.

          "Easy, Angel," she said. "We have to get you to the airport. Charles will explain everything, but right now you're not safe here. We'll take care of everything while you're gone, OK?"

          "OK," Angel agreed, not really understanding her, but feeling confused enough to go along with anything.

          "I'll get the bags," said Wesley. "Fred, you and Gunn help Angel down to the taxi."

          Everyone did as he directed and soon Gunn and Angel were down in the cab.

          Once at the airport, Gunn checked the tickets for both he and Angel, explaining that his friend was just a little under the weather. Gunn adjusted Angel in an aisle seat on the plane while he went to sit next to the window.

          Gunn sighed deeply. "Next stop Rome."

Willow stood fidgeting next to a firm faced Buffy, who had her arms crossed, in an airport. Willow carried a large sign in her hands which read, "Hi, Angel" in bold, red letters. The witch couldn't really contain herself during the first few hours of the morning, anxious over the visit. Making the sign had taken a little stress off. It was one thing when she called or went to see Angel, but watching Buffy call or see Angel was a very different story.

"People are starting to get off the plane," Willow said then looked at the clock, seeing it was almost eleven thirty.

"Noted," Buffy said.

"No familiar people yet, but I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"I know."

"See? Lots of people are leaving the plane. They're coming. They'll probably be the next ones out. They—"

"Will," Buffy suddenly cut her off. "I gotcha."

Willow nodded. "Nothing, but the positive." At that moment, Gunn walked out of the double doors that led away from the airplane, a very weak Angel leaning against him. "Gunn."

"Hey, Willow," Gunn returned the greeting.

"Oh, hug time," Willow said, going to give him a little squeeze.

"Is he OK?" Buffy asked, going up to Angel. His skin was unbelievably colorless and he seemed to be shaking a little.

"Oh, sorry," said Willow to Buffy. "Buffy Summers, this is Charles Gunn. Charles Gunn, this is Buffy Summers. You probably heard of her. She's the Slayer. Well, not _the_ Slayer, but a definitely great Slayer."

"Heard of you," Gunn smiled a little. "Heard you got some kick ass powers."

"I do all right. Come on." She helped Gunn with Angel. "Let's get him into my car."

After retrieving the luggage, Buffy, Willow, and Gunn guided Angel out towards Buffy's dark red SUV. Gunn sat in the back with Angel while Willow sat in the passenger's seat with Buffy in the driver's. As she drove, heading to the hotel, Buffy glanced into the mirror every so often to look at Angel. He was definitely sick and he looked it. Even so, his natural mysterious good looks hadn't even come close to fading. It was just so strange, though. This Angel seemed very different from the Angel that she had seen just days before. Buffy parked in front of the hotel and slipped out of the car.

Willow got the bags out of the trunk while Buffy and Gunn steered Angel inside and into the elevator. Getting off at the fourth floor, Buffy stepped out first and went up to her room's door, unlocking it. When the door was opened, she looked to see Kennedy, Xander, and Dawn all sitting around the room.

"Hey," Buffy addressed them. "We have a couple of new friends. Well, one new one and one incredibly old one."

"What's up?" Gunn greeted the stranger's, entering the room.

"Angel," Dawn recognized immediately. She shot up from her seat and went to hug him. He might have left her sister and broken her heart, but Spike had tried to rape her so it almost evened out.

"Easy, girl," Gunn cautioned. "Where do I put him?"

"Oh. Over on that cot over there," Dawn pointed. "We made it up with clean sheets and a big comfy blanket. See? It's got pillows, too."

"Cool," said Gunn, going to lay his friend down on the cot.

"So this is Angel," Kennedy said, walking up to the cot to look down at the man. She then turned to Gunn. "Uh, who are you?"

"Charles Gunn," the black man said. "Just call me Gunn."

"Hey, Gunny boy," said Xander, going to shake his hand. "Name's Xander Harris."

Gunn shook his hand and said, "Call me that again and see what happens."

"Understood," Xander said right away then stared down at Angel. "Looks like dead boy's been hit hard."

"He ain't dead," said Gunn. "Don't know how, don't know why, but he's not."

"Then it's true," Buffy said, coming up. She knelt next to Angel and brushed some of his dark hair away with her hand. "Angel."

"B-Buffy?" his voice abruptly sounded.

"Angel?" Buffy's eyes grew in surprise.

"Angel?" Dawn smiled, going to stand behind Buffy excitedly.

His eyes peeled open slowly, glancing back and forth around the room. "Hey," he greeted, his voice a whisper. "It's good to see you all again… and Xander."

The room filled with laughs, minus Xander, who just made a sarcastically amused face.

"How you feel, man?" Gunn asked.

"It's like someone drilled a hole in my head and poured hot lava in," Angel replied. "Other than that, I'm good."

"I'm Kennedy," the new Slayer spoke up. "Are you dead?"

Angel smiled a little. "Doesn't really feel like it right now."

"Hi, Angel," said Willow, coming up. "It's really good to see you and on much better terms. I'm glad your soul's all tucked in nice and tight."

"Thanks to you," said Angel as his attention went to Buffy. "Hi."

"Hi," Buffy beamed. "You actually had me worried there, mister."

Angel moved around a little, moaning slightly. "You should know better."

"Take it easy," Buffy advised. "You don't have to worry about anything, Angel. We're going to find out what happened to you."

"Then we'll have cake and ice cream," Willow promised with a smile.

"I don't know why, but I'm hoping for cookie-dough-fudge-mint-chip," Angel said.

"Hey, Buffy, isn't that like your favorite ice cream of all time?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah," Buffy remembered. "I totally boycotted my tenth birth day when Mom got the wrong kind."

"Guess I know what you like," Angel said to her.

"Guess you do," Buffy smiled softly.

"Uh, hate to interrupt this happy reunion, but don't we have a couple of worries, people?" Xander chimed in.

"Xander's right," Willow hated to admit. "Kennedy, you want to help me do some research on Angel's curse? That could give us a lead."

"What about the shanshu?" said Gunn.

"Shan-who?" Dawn asked in confusion.

"That prophecy thing that says Angel might become human one day after a great darkness and some big battle or something," Gunn tried to explain. "I don't know. Wes explains it better."

"I'll phone Wesley," Willow volunteered. "I'd like to learn more about this."

"OK, guys, great," said Buffy. "Now can we please get at least close to emptiness here? Angel does need to rest."

"Sure thing, I guess," said Xander. "Oh, and Gunn I guess you'll be staying in my room. We can order room service, watch some late night cable TV, and, dare I say, raid the mini fridge."

Gunn stared at him for a moment before pointing and asking, "Who is this guy?"

"Your new roomy," said Buffy, standing. "Now could you all clear out?"

"Fine," said Willow, nudging Kennedy towards the door. "This is us, clearing."

Kennedy and Willow left out, followed by Xander. Gunn grabbed his suitcase before going after Xander. Dawn ducked into the bathroom to give Buffy a little basking of Angel time. Once they were all gone, Buffy touched Angel's face with affection. With a bit of a strain, Angel lifted up his own hand and took hold of Buffy's wrist, smiling at her. Rome might be a good getaway after all.

A/N: I know this one is a little shorter, but no fretting, people. I will be back with more. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4 Full Moons

**New Way of Life**

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 4

          Dawn re-entered her and Buffy's room a little later that day, close to two o'clock. Buffy sat on her bed, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her golden curls covering her droopy face. Dawn smiled and went to join Buffy on the bed, playfully poking her in the arm.

          Buffy moaned lightly and opened her eyes. She pulled her left hand from under the blanket to push a piece of her hair from her eyes and behind her ear. "Dawnie?"

          "Hey," Dawn smiled at her. "I went to have lunch with Xander. We would have invited Gunn, but he totally refuses to wake up. He's got major jet lag." Buffy nodded, cuddling her blanket a little. "I wish you could have come, too, but I knew you didn't get any sleep last night."

          "Sure, I did," said Buffy. "I went to bed nice and early at like three, maybe four in the morning."

          Dawn giggled then glanced passed Buffy. "How is he?"

          "He's fine," Angel's voice replied. He awoke then and looked at the two sisters.

          "Oh, good," said Dawn, holding a bag up she had with her. "I brought you both some lasagna from the restaurant we went to. Angel, I thought you'd kill for some. How long has it been since you ate anything that didn't used to flow in an animal's veins?"

          "Dawn," Buffy chided.

          "Been a while," Angel said then tried to sit up, but moaned.

          "Hey, careful," said Buffy, going to help him. She propped a few pillows up behind him and he leaned against them. "There you go."

          "Thanks," Angel said then panicked as Dawn went towards the large window, which was very close to Angel's cot. "What are you doing?"

          "Letting some sun in," Dawn replied, putting a hand to the drapes. "It's too dark in here."

          "Can't you just turn on a light?" Angel suggested.

          "Angel, relax," said Buffy. "You had to go to my car from the airport in the daylight and no scorch marks. You're human now. You'll be fine."

          Before Angel could object, Dawn pulled back the drapes and the sound they made as they came apart was like someone drawing a pair of swords. Angel covered his face at first, but soon eased as the sun's glow radiated down on him. It was an incredible sensation; a sensation he had forgotten.

          Buffy smiled at him as Angel uncovered his face and allowed the sun to make contact with him. "Feels pretty good, huh?" the Slayer asked.

          "Yeah." Angel looked at her, actually returning the smile.

          Dawn looked at them both with a gleeful look on her face.

          "Aw, you're all smiling. Why?" Everyone turned to see that Willow had just entered. "Sorry. Someone left the door open a little."

          Buffy turned to her sixteen, almost seventeen-year-old sister. "Dawn."

          "What?" Dawn defended herself. "It's just Willow. She doesn't have a hatchet so I'm guessing she won't kill us."

          "Willow, any luck?" Buffy asked the witch.

          "Guess you could say that," she replied. "Angel, we haven't found what did this to you yet, but I did make a little healing remedy for you."

          "Magic?" Angel asked suspiciously.

          "Yeah, but don't worry," Willow assured him, holding up a tiny bottle, which had a clear liquid in it. "It's just your basic healing potion. Think of it as a mystical Red Bull."

          "I don't know about this," said Angel, thinking of the last time he'd gotten involved with a spell. It had backfired so badly that it had sent him and the rest of his friends back to the teenage years, also known as the worse years.

          "Angel, you're not a full strength," Buffy reminded him. "I can hold you down and make you drink it."

          Angel couldn't help, but smirk, "Do it if you want."

          Buffy just gave him a look, trying to cover up the amusement that statement gave her.

          Willow went up and sat on the side of Angel's cot, handing over the potion. Angel sniffed it a little and decided it smelled better than blood at least. He slowly took it to his lips then let it enter his mouth, going down his throat.

          "It tastes lemon-y," Angel told Willow.

          She sheepishly played with a piece of her hair and said, "Yeah. I added a little seven up for flavor."

          "How do you feel?" Buffy asked Angel.

          "I feel more relaxed I guess," Angel replied. "Not as sore."

          "You should be functioning better in an hour or so," said Willow.

          "Oh, great," Dawn smiled. "Then you can come to dinner with us. Right, Buffy?"

          "Sure," Buffy shrugged. "If you want to."

          "Fine," Angel agreed.

          Later that day, Gunn poked his eyes open and he sat up releasing a yawn. The jet lag had really taken a lot out of him and it felt good to get some rest without having to worry about a demon crashing through the window. Gunn looked around; no Xander, which was a relief. He got up and headed for the door to see a key and a note taped to it. Gunn took the key and read the note to himself, which said:

          Hey, Gunn!

          Listen, roomy, I thought you'd want a key of your own. If you need me I'll be over in Willow and Kennedy's room.

          Yours truly,

          Xander

          Gunn shook his head with pleasure. The guy was weird, but at least he was thoughtful. Gunn stuck the room key in his pocket before leaving out. He went across the hall and knocked on Buffy and Dawn's door.

          "Hey," Angel greeted, opening the door.

          "Angel?" Gunn asked in surprise. There stood the fallen vampire champion, who didn't look so fallen anymore. "What happened to you?"

          "Willow gave me a potion," Angel explained, closing the door when Gunn entered. "It's doing a little for me. I still can't move too fast or anything, but I feel…"

          "Human?" Gunn supplied.

          "Yeah," Angel said, hiding his delight in the word. "How are you doing?"

          "OK," Gunn shrugged. "Got some sleep in as soon as I got to Xander's room. God, jet lag can kill a brother."

          Angel chuckled a little, buttoning up the front of his black shirt. "I'm going out to dinner with Buffy and Dawn soon. Did you want to come?"

          Gunn shook his head. "Nah, these are your people."

          "I'm guessing you're not having any fun."

          "Hey, I came here for you."

          "Why?" Angel suddenly asked. Gunn looked at him in confusion. "Why'd you come with me? Why didn't Wesley?"

          "Look, if you want him here instead I could call—"

          "That's not what I mean," Angel told him. "I just want to know why _you_ came."

          "You're my friend," Gunn replied simply. "Ain't that enough?"

          "I thought I could never be your friend," Angel reminded him.

          Gunn looked at him like he was crazy for a moment before the memory hit him like a brick to the head. Back in LA when his old gang attacked Lorne's club. Gunn had stated Angel's exact words before all of those people and he'd even confirmed them later.

          "Angel, dang man, I ain't mean it. Well, then I probably did, but I don't even think that way now."

          "This doesn't have anything to do with the touch of humanity does it?"

          "It's not just that." Gunn shook his head. "Can't explain it."

          "That's fine. You still didn't answer my question, though. Why'd you come?"

          Gunn shrugged again. "Like I said. You're my friend and I wanted to be there for you."

          "Like you weren't back at that building?" Angel asked. Gunn matched his brown eyes with Angel's. "Gunn, I know I'm not the only one allowed to feel guilt, but it really is my thing."

          "I shouldn't have left you," Gunn said seriously. "If I had gotten there a second later—"

          "But you didn't," Angel cut in. "If it hadn't been for you I would have been vamp food. Ironic deaths aren't my style."

          "Got a point," Gunn agreed. "Hell, if your ass hadn't been all down and out I could've dusted every last one of them."

          "That right?" Angel smirked.

          "Damn straight," Gunn replied boldly, hiding his own smirk.

          "Angel?" Both men turned to see Dawn standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey, Gunn."

          "Sup, kid?" Gunn addressed.

          Dawn hid a frown. She'd known the guy for less than a day and he was already calling her kid. "Angel, Buffy's waiting in the lobby. Come on."

          Angel turned to the man before him. "Gunn, I'll see you later?" Gunn just gave off a single nod, watching his friend follow Dawn out.

          Gunn left out as well, heading for Xander's room. He stopped and decided to look in on Willow and Kennedy. Xander opened the door to the girls' room, surprised to see Gunn on the other side.

          "Roomy," Xander ginned.

          Willow appeared behind Xander. "Oh, Gunn."

          "Hey. I just, uh, came to see if you found anything out about Angel," said Gunn a bit awkwardly.

          "Nothing yet," Willow told him. "But why don't you come on in? Join the research party?"

          "Nah," Gunn shook his head. "I'll just—"

          "What? Crawl into our room and hide out during your whole stay?" Xander cut in. "Come on. Become one of us."

          Gunn sighed and finally stepped inside, Xander closing the door behind him.

          A couple hours later that evening, Angel and Buffy walked down the carefully lighted streets of Rome, side by side. Buffy couldn't take her eyes off the full moan that floated in the sky. It was such a better sight than back in California.

          "It's really pretty here," Buffy commented. "I mean it's better than the hell hole I'm used to. And now it's technically a real hole so that makes it a funny pun."

          Angel nodded his agreement. "It is nice. The food was good, too. I forgot how savoring chocolate is."

          Buffy laughed light before stopping at a water fountain and taking a seat. "You ever been to Italy before?"

          "Few times I guess," Angel shrugged. "In any case, I think I like it better now."

          "Yeah, what without the slaughter and mayhem." Angel looked at her for a moment before glancing away. "Oh, no, Angel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

          "No, it's OK," Angel assured her, flashing his chocolate eyes back at her. "Really."

          Buffy smiled at him a little. "Careful, Angel, this might just be our most successful date."

          "This is date?"

          "Dinner, big moon, little sister snooping around, yeah, it's a date."

          Angel let off a laugh before looking down into the water. Buffy stared at him strangely, narrowing her eyes at him. "What is it?" Angel asked, noticing the look.

          "Nothing. It's just I'm not used to seeing you with the big jollies."

          "It's Rome. Kind of brings things out in me."

          Buffy leaned in closer towards him. "Just Rome?"

          Angel looked closer into her eyes, so deep and hazel. He had missed those eyes. "Maybe not just Rome…"

          The two moved in nearer, now as close as they could get. They slowly tilted in, ready for a kiss.

          "Hey, guys," Dawn called, running up. Angel and Buffy broke apart and looked at her. "Sorry, I took so long." She waved her ice cream cone a little. "They were all out of strawberry. I had to get vanilla." She stared at the two of them as they both looked at a little off. "Um, did I interrupt something?"

          Buffy exchanged a look with Angel before replying, "No. Come on. We better get back to the hotel." Buffy went up and put an arm around Dawn, leading the way back. Angel sighed and followed after them. The large moon seemed to guide them on their way.

A/N: Hope you liked because there is way more where this came from. Please review!


	5. Chapter 5 It Can't Be

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 5 

          Over the next few days, Gunn and Angel resided in Rome, almost forgetting their gang back in LA, who they hadn't spoken to for days.

          At the Hyperion Fred sat on a couch going over what she had about certain demon women, spells of humanity, and other books that had proven to be less than valuable. She looked over at Lorne, who sat behind the main desk, indulged in his own book. Fred stood up and went over to him, sticking her hands in her back pockets.

          "Lorne, maybe we should take a break," Fred suggested. "I mean, it's not like we're helping Angel by going around in circles." Lorne didn't reply, just continued to read. "Lorne? Lorne?" When she still couldn't get a response, Fred put her hand down on the book Lorne was reading to see a Sears catalog. "Lorne!"

          "I'm sorry," Lorne apologized, popping his head up. "It's just that we've been at this for days and… can you believe this new summer line? These belts are just adorable."

          Before Fred could say anything Wesley came downstairs. Without saying a word to Fred or Lorne his eyes spotted the remote and clicked on the small TV that had been set up in the lobby. Fred and Lorne gathered around Wesley, Fred asking what was up. Wesley turned to a news station where a female reporter stood next to a man.

          "We're here live at Packard Street, at the scene of a disaster." The reporter held her microphone out to the man she stood with. "Sir, can you give us a statement?"

          "Oh, God. I couldn't believe it," the man started. "I was just heading home from my late shift when I heard all this screaming. Then I ran to this alley and saw this girl, she looked to be fifteen or sixteen, and this guy was harassing her. His face looked… wrong and he was biting her neck. Blood was all over her shirt. I wanted to stop him, but when I saw that face… I couldn't even move."

          The reporter asked, "And you say there have been numerous stories of this same man stalking and causing harm to other teenaged girls?"

          "Not just girls. We've seen dead bodies around here, too. God, people are even too scared to step outside their homes."

          "There we have it," said the reporter, turning back towards the camera. "This man has been classified as the X. Watch where you go because he is out—"

          Wesley switched off the TV and turned to Fred and Lorne. "We have a problem," the British man said simply.

          "I'm guessing we're going to do some checking and outing," said Lorne.

          "Wait," said Fred. "Shouldn't we keep researching?"

          "Angel is safe as long as he's with Buffy," Wesley said. "He would want us to keep up the business, plus this X sounds lethal."

          "All right," Fred agreed with a sigh. "I could use some time out of the hotel, anyway."

          The trio armed themselves then, each taking a weapon. Fred decided on a crossbow, Wesley took an ax, and Lorne got a baseball bat like stake. They filed into Wesley's car outside and drove off. Once at the neighborhood they'd seen on TV, the three of them decided to split up.

          Fred headed off towards a nearby alley, the crossbow held close to her. She walked in deeper into the alley, suddenly jumping at the sound of a crash. Fred whirled around, crossbow held high, ready to fire. She watched as a cat sped from out of a garbage can. The petite woman sighed with relief then turned back around and gasped in horror.

          "Hey, Fred. Been a while," the figure smirked.

          It couldn't be him, it couldn't. He looked exactly the same, though; same angelic face, broad shoulders, too tall for words. But how could it possibly be him? There was no way.

          "Angel?" Fred whispered.

          "Oh, come on, darling," he said. "You insult me."

          Fred shook her head, figuring it out. "No, it's not you. There is no way it could be—"

          "If there's one thing you could have learned from Angel Inc, Freddy, it's that all things are possible."

          Fred suddenly shot her crossbow. Angelus caught it in between his hands and tossed it back, just missing Fred. Not knowing what to do, she turned around and headed out. Angelus smirked again and simply held a hand up. What looked like some sort of force secreted from his palm. Fred froze in her tracks as she felt Angelus' energy grab her; she fell to her knees, seriously feeling the pain.

          "Fred!" Wesley's voice exclaimed as he ran up with Lorne.

          Fred gasped as she felt herself get released from the energy's hold.

          "Are you all right?" Wesley asked her, helping Fred to her feet.

          "I'm OK," Fred said, panting a little. "Oh, my God. Angelus, he's back. He's in the alley."

          "What?" Wesley looked beyond astonished as he poked a head into the alley, ax ready. "There's nothing there."

          "What?" Fred looked passed him to see that he was right. "No. I saw him. He was right there. Where'd he go?"

          "Fred, I understand you're missing Angel, but creating delusions—"

          "I'm not creating anything, Wesley," Fred suddenly snapped. "I know who I saw. Angelus is back, but I don't know how. He's…" She couldn't say another word as she let off a moan and tumbled backward a little.

          "Easy, Fred kens, I got you," said Lorne, steadying her.

          Fred shook her head, trying to get some kind of energy back. "I think Angelus did something to me. It's like… he drained me."

          "Don't see any bite marks," said Lorne, examining Fred's neck.

          "No," Fred said, trying to think of the best way to explain it. "It's like he took a spark out of me or something."

          Wesley stuck his hands into his pockets and formed his usual expression of deep thought. "There is only one way for Angelus to truly be back."

          "Hello?" Dawn's ears perked at the familiar voice on the other end. "Giles? Oh, sorry, Wesley. Wait, are you really Wesley? You don't sound like him. You sound all deep and macho. What? Buffy and Angel are over at Xander's room. Yes, I'm sure it's Angel. No, I wouldn't lie to protect him. OK, what's with the paranoia?"

          A knock came at the door, which was immediately followed by Willow's voice. "Dawnie, come on. We have something to show you."

          "Be right there," Dawn called to Willow before turning back to the phone. "Bye, Wesley."

          "Dawn, wait," Wesley nearly exclaimed into the phone on his end. He slammed it down in frustration when he heard the dial tone. What was with that girl? Wesley turned to Fred and Lorne who sat next to each other on a couch in the Hyperion lobby. "Apparently, Angel is fine."

          "That can't be right," said Fred. "I know I saw Angelus. How can Angelus be here if Angel's not feeling ultimate happiness?"

          "Well, this is one mystery for the Ghost Busters," said Lorne. He quickly added, "Or, you know, us," when he saw the looks Fred and Wesley were giving him.

          Fred stood. "Well, if Angelus is back we have to do something. It's just that I don't think we can do this alone. We need Angel."

          "No," Wesley said immediately. "If Angel finds out about this he'll rush back here, head first into danger. There is no possible way he can stand a chance against Angelus while human. We're going to have to figure something out."

          Lorne thought for a moment then said, "I got it." Fred and Wesley turned to him expectantly. "Tequila, anyone?"

A/N: I am so sorry it took me this long to update. My computer and I were having "problems" with each other, but I'm back. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6 Powerless

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 6

"Are we there yet?" Dawn moaned.

"For the zillionth time, Dawnie, no," Willow replied.

Kennedy swiftly stepped ahead of the group, moving faster than the others. "Look," she said. "There it is."

Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Willow, Xander, and Gunn all stopped in unison to see just what "it" was. Before them stood a large elderly house. They all seemed to exchange the same look of surprise and confusion as Willow and Kennedy led them inside.

          The interior of the house didn't look quite as old as the exterior, but it seemed ancient enough. Dawn seemed to recoil at the slightly foul odor in the air, which also went along with the age of the house. Gunn's deep brown eyes glanced upward at a painting that hung over the fireplace in the living room. It pictured a group of men at a party or something, all wearing what appeared to be tights. Gunn shook his head, biting back the many masculine comments he had in his head.

          "Isn't it great?" Willow asked the group. "It has four bedrooms, an upstairs _and_ downstairs den, this living room, a library—"

          "Bathrooms?" Buffy suddenly cut her off.

          "Well, there's one in the master bedroom, another upstairs, and a smaller one downstairs," Willow told her.

          "Thing is, if we all pull our finances and stuff we can probably afford it," Kennedy chimed in. "It's not much and we can probably swing the utilities."

          "When was this place built, Will?" Xander asked. "Sometime in BC?"

          "Well, it was actually built in eighteen ninety nine," Willow clarified.

          "Smells like it," Dawn commented, wrinkling her nose at the aforementioned smell.

          "What do you guys think?" asked Willow, a cheerful and expectant smile on her face.

          "We do need a place to live," Buffy admitted. "You can't live at a hotel forever, right?"

          "Speak for yourself," Gunn said, exchanging a look with Angel.

          "I guess I could do some quick trip repairs on the place," said Xander. "Sort of air it out, too."

          "Heavy on the sort of," Dawn added.

          "I've got my credit cards," Angel suddenly spoke up. "I could get some furniture or something."

          Gunn gave Angel a strange look while Willow said, "Well, that'd be perfect. Come on, guys. We can make this work, but we have to actually try."

          Buffy sighed deeply. "I'm game." She turned to the others before she added, "Let's do it."

          Wesley, Fred, and Lorne huddled up closely together, each of them waving a flashlight around and carrying a weapon. They busily explored the sewer, going through all kinds of twists and turns down in it.

          "Are we always in the sewers?" Lorne asked the others, clearly annoyed.

          "I think it's kind of cozy," said Fred. "Put down some throw pillows and little taco stand and I'm home."

          "Over there," Wesley said, waving his flashlight over a huddled up figure. "Careful as you approach." He stepped ahead of the other two, getting close upon the figure.

          "Who made him Mr. Boss Pants?" Lorne asked.

          "Himself?" Fred shrugged with a little smile.

          "You there," Wesley called to the figure, who was unresponsive. "Excuse me?"

          The body rolled over to reveal the face of a woman.

          "What do you want?" she asked, her voice low.

          "Are you the demoness known as Calisa?" Wesley asked her.

          She chuckled softly. "I'm not a demoness," she said. "I'm nothing anymore."

          "It is her," said Fred. "The woman that cursed Angel. My God, she is filthy."

          "Nothing is exactly hygiene efficient in the sewers, Freddy," said Lorne.

          "What's happened to you?" Wesley asked.

          "My powers, my strength, they've been taken from me," said Calisa. "I've been completely drained."

          "By whom?" Wesley wanted to know.

          "The demon that was inside of me," she said. "He was too powerful. So powerful that he took my own powers from me when we split apart."

          Wesley turned to Fred and Lorne and said, "Angelus."

          "When she turned Angel human she didn't kill Angelus," Fred began to understand. "She just pulled him inside of her."

          "I'm guessing the power of the two demons combined caused a major, _major_ boom," said Lorne.

          "Which resulted in Angelus being torn apart from you," Wesley said to Calisa. "And taking your strength and powers with him."

          "I don't understand," said Fred. "Angel was cursed by Gypsies a long time ago. How is it that you overrode their spell or whatever?"

          Calisa scoffed, "The Gypsies. Their magic is so ancient and primeval that most of their descendants don't even know have the power to do what they did. My family, though, our secrets have been passed down to every generation. The Gypsies have nothing on us."

          "She also didn't exactly override something, Fred," said Wesley. "The Gypsies gave Angel his soul back. Calisa took his demon away."

          "Now fang boy is out there on the loose," said Lorne. "Gunn and Angel are in Rome, demon chick here is all powered out, and I have about enough resources to give Angelus a mild splinter."

          "He's right, Wesley," said Fred. "What are we going to do?"

          Wesley laid his flashlight by his side, allowing it to shine down on the murky water, clearing having as much as idea of how to handle things as his accomplices; not clue whatsoever.

A/N: I know this chapter is way short, but I can also way make it up to you. Please review!


	7. Chapter 7 Old Desires

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 7

          Buffy pinched her nose a little as she waved a roller, which was covered in dark blue paint, all over a side wall of the living room in the house she and the others had decided to stay in. Dawn stood next to her, also rolling paint. Both sisters wore white coveralls that didn't seem too white anymore, as they had gotten splatters of blue all over themselves.

          "First this house and its stupid odors then this paint smell," Dawn griped. "We might as well name this place Manor Funk."

          "Come on, Dawnie," said Buffy. "At least this is the last painting we need to do."

          "And after like two days of painting bliss, I couldn't be happier," Dawn sighed, dropping her roller down into the tray of paint.

          "Hey, ladies," Xander greeted, coming into the room from the kitchen, eyeing what they were wearing. "Gee, you two look a little blue?"

          "That's stopped being funny an hour ago," Dawn said, taking a seat on the floor.

          "How goes the kitchen?" Buffy asked Xander, putting her hands to her hips.

          "Our troubles are over," Xander said, dropping his toolbox down on the hardwood floor. "I got the sink up and running. Everything else is good."

          "Great," Buffy sighed contentedly. "Paint job's done, repairs are done, now all we need is—"

          "Stuff to sit on?" Dawn supplied from where she had taken up residence on the floor.

          "Those furniture guys said they'd be here at seven," said Buffy. She glanced at the clock that had been set up on top of the fireplace. "It's almost eight now."

          "Just got to love that speedy service," Xander commented.

          "I'm going to go wait on the truck," Buffy said. "Dawn, why don't you clean up?"

          "My pleasure," Dawn said, getting up and heading for the stairs.

          Buffy dusted her hands on her coveralls before going outside. She walked down the first couple of steps leading from the house then took a seat, letting out a sigh.

          "Relaxing out here, isn't it?"

          "Hey," Buffy smiled at Angel. "You're still with the lurking?"

          "Hard habit to break." He went to join her on the stairs. "I thought I'd wait on the delivery men."

          "Join the club there. Next time we so need to call Empire."

          Angel chuckled softly then glanced at her. "You feel like taking off for a while?"

          "You want to be seen with me?" Buffy asked him serious. "I'm all paint-y."

          He slowly reached out and put his hand on top of the painting cap she wore, removing it. Buffy's honey golden curls tumbled out from the cap, tumbling against her shoulders.

          "You look beautiful to me," Angel said.

          "Well, since you put it so corny…" Buffy stood and zipped down the coveralls, revealing that she wore a black top and dark blue jeans underneath. "Let's go."

          Angel smiled a little and stood, following Buffy down the rest of the steps, going away from the house and down the block.

          Meanwhile in LA, Fred lay in the bed of her bedroom at the hotel, snuggling a pillow. It had been a long researching night and Wesley and Lorne had managed to convince her to get some sleep. Fred felt the night air caress against her skin and she realized she had left the window cracked. Nudging herself awake, Fred climbed out of bed and went to the window, pulling it down.

          "Thanks." Fred gasped and turned around to see Angelus standing in the dim light of the lamp she had left on. "I was feeling a draft."

          "How did you get in here?" Fred demanded, backing away.

          "Back door?" Angelus shrugged, approaching her. "Thought I'd come up and maybe take you up on that offer I made."

          "What offer?" Fred asked, her voice shaking.

          Angelus leaned in close to her, causing Fred to gasp again. "Rape," the vampire whispered into her ear lowly, but loud enough to send every chill in the world down her spine.

          Fred turned and did a flip over her bed. "Get away from me!" she exclaimed, racing for the door. "Wesley! Lorne—"

          Angelus shut the door audibly before Fred got a chance to even get it cracked. "Don't bother calling 'em, Fred. Not really in the mood for a foursome." He suddenly took a hold of her wrist pulling her in closer.

          "What are you doing? Let me go!" Fred screamed at the top of her lungs.

          The large vampire before her immediately put on his game face and knelt in towards her neck, taking a large bite, making Fred scream even louder than before.

          A few seconds later Wesley and Lorne came charging into the room, opening the door abruptly. Angelus glanced up from biting Fred, who lay wilted in his arms. Wesley and Lorne stood in horror at the sight of crimson red blood dripping from Fred's neck, oozing down onto the top she had worn to bed.

          "Guys, hey," Angelus greeted, going back to his human face. "Don't worry. We were just getting reacquainted." He tossed Fred in Wesley's direction, him immediately grabbing her in his arms. "I'll see you later." Angelus turned and took a flying leap out of Fred's window, shattering it to pieces.

          Wesley's mind flooded all at once with memories of Lilah and they included Angelus sinking his fangs into her.

          "We have to get her to a hospital," Lorne said panicked, getting Wesley's attention back.

          The British man lifted Fred up into his arms and carried her downstairs wordlessly.

          "Wesley, hurry. I'll stay here and work on a new sanctuary spell for when and I mean _when_ fang boy comes back," Lorne called.

          Angel spun Buffy a little, her arms wrapped around his neck as they moved rhythmically around the dance floor. They were at a club Willow and Kennedy had found when they and the others had first ventured into Rome. Buffy had decided to drag Angel there just for the fun of it.

          "Hang on," Angel said, stopping abruptly.

          "What is it?" Buffy asked worriedly. "Do you feel OK?"

          "I'm fine," Angel assured her. "I just forgot what it's like to lose my breath."

          Buffy laughed a little and led him away from the dance floor, taking a seat at a table. "Sorry. I'm used to the Angel that could actually keep up with me at the Bronze."

          "I still can't believe it," said Angel, sitting across from her at the table. "Your house, the Bronze, everything…"

          "Explode-y?" Buffy supplied. Angel nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm just upset that my summer wardrobe had to go down with it."

          "Did anything survive the blast?" he asked.

          "Just the vital stuff," Buffy replied. "Me, the guys, Andrew I guess." The man before her chuckled softly. "And my scythe."

          "Right, the cool ax thing," Angel suddenly remembered. "You still have that right? I mean you didn't give it to Faith or one of the new Slayers?"

          "You can play with it later," Buffy promised, already knowing what he was driving at.

          "Thanks. So did you want to head home?"

          Buffy's ears perked as the new song started up. "After one more dance."

          "You got it." Angel stood and took Buffy's small, thin hand into his, taking her back out to the floor.

          Wesley sat outside of Fred's hospital room, his hands cupped together as if to pray with a serious expression covering his face. He had been waiting ever since Fred was put down in her room and things didn't seem to be looking good.

          "Psst." He looked up to see Lorne dressed in a trench coat, wearing a hat with a pair of dark shades. "I put down the spell before I left. I managed to get a little research down while I was doing it, too and there might be a way to stop Angelus." Lorne noticed that Wesley didn't seem to be paying attention to him, just staring into space. "Wes, what is it?" Lorne asked, sitting down. "Is Fred OK?"

          "She…" Wesley blinked his eyes twice before continuing, attempting to cover all emotion. "She's lost a lot of blood. They're not sure if she's going to make it."

          Lorne shook his head with disbelief. "You have to be kidding me here." Wesley turned to him, earnestness in his eyes. "You're really not, though, are you?"

          "How do we stop him?" Wesley asked, returning to the Angelus issue.

          Buffy's giggles could be heard as she and Angel re-entered the house later that evening. Angel clicked on the lights, both of them surprised at what they saw; the living room furniture had been set up. Dawn lay sleeping on the couch and Xander had taken up space on one of the loveseats.

          Angel and Buffy tipped up the stairs so as not to disturb the sleepy dwellers of the living room. Buffy went into her bedroom immediately and turned on the light. Her vanity, pair of dressers, and other furniture, including her mattresses, lay scattered across the room. The Slayer sighed deeply, turning to the mattresses that leaned against the wall.

          "Don't I love my considerate friends who are kind enough to set my things up for me?" she said, heavy sarcasm in her voice.

          "Come on," Angel offered, stepping into the room. "We can fix it up now."

          "I got the time," Buffy shrugged.

          Angel went to push the dressers and vanity against the wall while Buffy lay the mattresses down on top of each other against the headboard. She made up the bed with flowery sheets and blankets she had picked out. Angel noticed that his job seemed to take longer with his lack of strength.

          "That was fun," Buffy sighed, resting her last pillow at the head of the bed.

          "Wasn't so bad," said Angel. "Made me… is tireder a word?"

          "No, but neither is bootylicious technically." She added, "Destiny's Child," seeing the confused look he gave her.

          "I think Gunn might have used that one," Angel thought.

          "We better get some sleep I guess," Buffy said. "You're starting to get serious luggage under your eyes."

          "I don't have bags."

          Buffy smiled and reached up to touch under his eyes. "Yes, you do. Your eyes are doing this saggy thing."

          "Hey," Angel said, smiling a little himself, trying to deflect her by touching her face in return.

          Buffy laughed heartedly, but slowed a little, getting a really good look at his eyes. They were so deep and serious and looked like little drops of chocolate. Buffy had forgotten what it was like to look into those eyes.

          "Buffy, what…?" Angel trailed off, wondering what she was staring at before noticing the familiar spark of bliss she had in her eyes. The beautiful hazel seemed to turn lighter with happiness.

          "I'm sorry," Buffy suddenly apologized, realizing she had been gaping at him a little too much. "I just—" her words were cut off by his lips making contact with hers.

          Throwing away any thought of pulling back or pushing him away, Buffy wrapped one arm around him tightly while using her other arm to run her fingers through his hair. Angel pushed her back a little, Buffy falling back on the bed, Angel on top of her.

          Angel pulled away from the kiss long enough to ask, "Are you still tired?"

          "Exhausted," Buffy replied as they went back to their kiss, going deeper and more passionate than before.

A/N: School's out for the summer. Whoop! Lets loose a barrage of balloons and streamers Yes! Oh, and please review!


	8. Chapter 8 Fun, Fights, and Feuds

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 8

          The first thing Angel felt as his eyes peeled open was something that seemed to be fur. He glanced down to see that Buffy's golden curls were draped over his muscular arm with Buffy's arm wrapped around his chest. Angel sat up a little, careful not to disturb the sleeping Slayer. He felt the warm of the sheets press against his bare skin and knew it was true; they had done it. They had done it and he was fine. Angel cautiously crept out of bed and put on the black slacks and underwear Buffy had helped him tear off.

          Angel slipped out of the room, trying to be quieter than a mouse, but found it wasn't as easy without his vampire stealth. He decided to go downstairs to see if the other furniture had been set up properly.

          "Hey," Gunn greeted, seeing Angel enter the kitchen.

          "Hey," Angel returned the greeting. "Where've you been?"

          "Walked around for a while," the black man shrugged. "Found a club. I'll tell you one thing. These Italian strippers got more attitude than the sisters."

          Angel chuckled softly, glancing around the room at the refrigerator, stove, microwave, and kitchen table, which Gunn sat it. "Looks like the furniture got her all right."

          Gunn shrugged again. "It's OK."

          "Are _you_ OK?" Angel asked, sitting across from him at the table.

          "No, I'm not," Gunn replied bluntly. "Angel, what the hell is wrong with you?"

          Angel's eyes became filled with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

          "When did we make plans to stay here?"

          "Oh…" Angel had finally realized it. "I know we didn't talk, but while we're here we do need a real place to stay and—"

          "You forgot we got friends back home that we haven't even talked to in the longest?" Gunn reminded him harshly.

          "Gunn, their homes and possessions got blown up when their city was destroyed," Angel reminded him in return. "They needed help with the furniture and everything."

          "Angel, you ain't fooling nobody. This isn't even about the others. It's all about Goldilocks."

          "Buffy?"

          "Nah, you think?"

          "Gunn, Buffy and I have a history. A history you weren't around to see."

          "Hold up," Gunn cut off his speech, holding up a hand. He looked Angel over closely, as if to inspect him. "Why do you look like you just found some serious lucky charms?"

          Angel moved around uneasily in his seat as he responded, "I don't look like I just… lucky charms?"

          Gunn's eyes nearly popped out as he realized it. "You got some," he announced with a grin.

          "A little louder, please," Angel said, glancing around to make sure no one else's ears had picked up on it.

          "You telling me you and Buffy did the nasty?" Angel thought about it then nodded, figuring he really didn't have anything to hide. "Shoot, five up top." He and Angel slapped hands, exchanging a look of macho superiority.

          Buffy stirred awake as she felt the sun secrete down on top of her. Her hazel eyes opened to see Angel, who was smiling back at her contentedly.

          "Mm, morning," Buffy moaned happily.

          "Morning." Angel planted a light kiss on her soft lips.

          "Just to be sure, soul's glued in all nice and tight, right?"

          Angel nodded. "Very tight."

          Buffy's smile increased as she cuddled up against him more. "Well, I'd say that's nice."

          "Better than nice," he said, stroking her curls.

          "Oh, what time is it? How long have we been asleep?"

          "The last time I checked it was ten."

          "Great," Buffy sighed. "How much you wanna bet that every resident in this house knows about us?"

          "Well, I'm not sure, but a couple times when I woke up I heard a pair of giggles, a scream of teenage joy, a groan, and I told Gunn. Is that OK with you?"

          "Sure. Not like we have much to hide."

          "After last night I don't think anything will be hidden between the two of us ever again," Angel said.

          Buffy giggled lightly and kissed him. "What do you say we get dressed and get some breakfast?"

          "Do we have to get dressed?" Angel groaned playfully, causing the Slayer to giggle again.

          "We could wait a couple minutes…" she trailed off as Angel kissed her again.

          "Or longer," Angel added.

          Willow and Kennedy looked up from their coffee to see Buffy and Angel enter the kitchen. Xander glanced over at them from where he and Dawn stood near the sink. For a few long seconds, the room remained dead quiet, barely a cough escaping someone's throat.

          "So did you guys do it or not?" Dawn finally asked, breaking the silence.

          "Dawn," Willow reproached then turned to Buffy with a mischievous smile. "So did you do it?"

          Buffy and Angel exchanged a look before Buffy replied, "Yes, it has been done."

          "Oh," Dawn squealed with joy, going over to give her sister a hug. "Congratulations."

          "Told you," Willow whispered to Kennedy.

          "Here we go again," Xander sighed.

          "What's up?" Gunn greeted everyone as he came into the kitchen. Before anyone could say anything to him he got a good look at Buffy and Angel, who both seemed especially shiny. "Mmhmm. That's what's going on."

          "So what's up today?" Buffy asked, deciding to get the attention off of her and Angel for a while.

          "We should patrol tonight," Kennedy suggested. "I haven't dusted anything in days."

          "Hell, I know what you mean," Gunn said, propping himself up on the kitchen island. "I'm in."

          "Great," Buffy said with a little shrug. She turned to Angel. "You up for it?"

          "Sounds like a plan," he replied, then bent his head down to give her a light peck on the lips.

          Dawn smiled gleefully at the sight. "Hey, Angel?" Buffy addressed once Buffy had gone over to join Willow and Kennedy at the table. "We have a total of none to little food and a big, fancy refrigerator. You want to go to the grocery store?"

          Angel glanced at Buffy, who gave him the approving nod. "Sure," Angel replied to Dawn.

          Angel got the permission to borrow Buffy's precious SUV, which had proven pretty difficult at first. Angel smiled at Dawn, who moved rhythmically to some song she had found on the radio. The kid sure had grown up in the years he'd been away; she didn't seem nearly as whiny, either. Angel parked in front of the nearest grocery store he could find.

          Inside, he pushed the shopping cart down the aisles while Dawn hung on the other side of it like a playful child.

          "What kind of cereal do you eat, anyway?" Angel asked the teen.

          "Pretty much anything with chocolate or marshmallows in it," Dawn replied, getting down from the cart to grab a couple boxes of cereal. "I'm guessing you haven't had a real taste sensation in like a zillion years so let me work you through this."

          "Guide me," Angel smiled.

          "Cocoa puffs, lucky charms, and frosted flakes are all good, but if you want to get passed health conscious Buffy then you might want to grab a box of total or something grain-y." Dawn went over and dumped her favorite cereals along with a couple of healthy ones into the cart.

          "What about ice cream?" Angel asked.

          "Get a couple things of that kind with the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry all in the same box and everybody's happy." She headed over to the frozen foods to grab the ice cream.

          "And get some cookie dough fudge mint chip," Angel called after her.

          When they returned with much more than enough groceries to last a week, Dawn filled Buffy's ear about how Angel is the best person to shop with, much to the Slayer's delight that they'd had a good time. It was good to know that Dawn and Angel could get along and even have fun together.

          Later, once the sun had finally set, Buffy, Gunn, Kennedy, and Angel filed into the car to go the cemetery for a quality patrol. There were little vampires in Rome, but the few that did pop up now and then were enough to worry about. They were also a good way to let of some steam when Buffy and Kennedy got to stake them. The two had been getting along better since Kennedy had gotten activated and had her own powers.

          "Just spread out you guys," Buffy instructed. "I get the feeling it's going to be a dead night so just take it e—"

          "Fangs by the tree," Gunn cut her off abruptly. He went and charged off after a vampire.

          "Gunn, be careful," Buffy cautioned. "You might not be as used to this as you think."

          The vampire lunged at Gunn, who gave him a swift kick to the lower abdomen, sending him flying into the tree right into a branch, instantly dissolving into dust.

          "Or you could be very used to it," Buffy added to her previous statement.

          "He's good," Kennedy commented. "Any chance there's a such thing as a long lost male Slayer?"

          "If there is I need to catch up on some serious research," Buffy responded.

          "I thought I told you Gunn was an experienced demon hunter," Angel reminded Buffy.

          "Yeah," said the blonde. "But I didn't figure_ that_ experienced."

          "Hey, what y'all standing around for?" Gunn asked the trio, jogging back up to them. "Spotted some more vamps around here. Let's do this."

          Buffy and Kennedy swapped a look before Buffy said in agreement, "Let's do this."

          Everyone spread out then, going after a few vampires they had spotted. Kennedy, who was with Gunn, stood amazed again when she saw Gunn stake a vampire after she finished giving it a good pummel. Buffy decked another vampire upside the head, throwing it off balance. She gave it a quick kick to make sure it landed on the ground. Buffy then knelt down and gave it a quick stab to the heart with the stake she had brought along.

          While the others fought, Angel scanned the area for another vampire, but found he couldn't sense one whatsoever. All of a sudden, one of the fanged creatures leapt out and tackled him to the ground. Angel groaned and looked up at the vamp, who had a devious smirk on his bumped up face. Before Angel could make a move to attack, the vampire grabbed him by the shirt and tossed him off, making Angel crash into a nearby tombstone, actually breaking it. Angel tried to get up, but found some pain in his movement.

          "Angel!" Buffy called, noticing her guy's jeopardy. "Hey!" the vampire turned to look at her. "Play nice." She threw her stake in the direction of his heart and turned him to dust. Buffy put on a worried face as she went up to help Angel. "Oh, Angel. God, are you OK?"

          "As soon as you define OK, I can tell you," Angel hissed as Buffy helped him up.

          "Off your game, huh, man?" Gunn said to Angel as he and Kennedy walked up.

          "I'm fine," Angel assured his friend then let off another hiss.

          "You're hurt," said Buffy, taking Angel's arm and leading back to the car. "Come on. You're in need of serious boo-boo aids and stat."

          Dawn looked up from the TV from where she sat next to Willow on the new couch when Buffy and the others walked in. Angel looked very not well.

          "What happened?" Dawn asked with concern.

          "Just a little scrape," Buffy replied, sitting Angel down in an armchair. "Willow?"

          "I'll get the first aid kit," the witch said, getting up to do the task.

          "Dead boy get an owie?" Xander asked with a smirk.

          "Xander, he's not even dead anymore," Dawn said exasperatedly.

          "Where's it hurt?" Willow asked Angel once she'd returned with the first aid kit.

          Angel felt like a child with the way they seemed to fuss over him and it wasn't a good feeling. "It's nothing," Angel promised. "I'll just sleep on it."

          "I think you hurt your right leg," said Kennedy.

          "Yeah, you were limping on it from the graveyard," Gunn added.

          Before Angel could protest, Buffy rolled up his right pants leg to see that there was a large purple bruise forming on his ankle that didn't look pretty. Willow knelt down and dabbed at the cut that had formed on his leg with a moisturizing cloth then put an Icy Hot patch on the bruise.

          "Battles scars are always fun," Willow commented with a smile.

          "Why don't you get some rest?" Buffy suggested to Angel. "I'll be up soon." Angel stood and Buffy immediately asked, "Do you need any help getting upstairs?"

          "I'm fine, Buffy," Angel said, his tone a little harsh.

          "Fine," Buffy said, wondering what his problem was.

          "What's up with your friend?" Xander asked Gunn once Angel was out of earshot.

          "Your friend first," said Gunn with a shrug. "I don't get the mood swings."

          "He's probably just tired," said Dawn. "Monster battling and all."

          Upstairs, Angel clicked on the light in Buffy's bedroom and went to her vanity, pulling up his shirt. He had a few bruises on his back as well and it had been aching since they got home from the graveyard. Angel sighed, pulled down his shirt, and turned the light back off. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared into space.

          "Hey." Angel looked up to see Buffy standing in the doorway, holding a mug. "I brought you some cocoa." When he didn't respond, she sat the hot drink down on a dresser. She reached out and touched his hair affectionately. "You feeling OK? You were pretty growl-y downstairs."

          "I told you I was fine," Angel stated simply, using his same harsh tone.

          "Gotcha," Buffy said, still confused. "I thought you'd maybe lay off the patrolling a little for a while." She glanced around her bedroom. "We should really think of doing some things to this room to make it more us like. What do you think?"

          "Things?" Angel repeated the one word. "Buffy, what's with the redecorating plans?"

          "Well, I just figured—"

          "You know I _do_ have a job back in LA."

          "I didn't say you didn't."

          "No, but what you want to hear is that I'm going to abandon everything and stay tucked here in Rome where you can watch over me."

          "I never said that," Buffy said defensively. "Angel, God, where is this coming from?"

          "You're the one announcing our big relationship," he reminded her.

          "Excuse me?" Buffy stated incredulously. "What exactly was last night? An excuse for you to get a happy without consequence?"

          "No," said Angel, standing. "Buffy, last night… it was unbelievable. I just don't think we should pour into each other's lives automatically like that. Then what about your cookie dough?"

          "Cookie dough?" Buffy suddenly remembered her analogy. "That was me being all defense mechanism-y."

          "I just don't think…"

          "Don't think what?" Buffy nudged, her eyes and voice blazing with anger.

          Angel finished lowly, "I don't think it's going to work."

          Buffy shook her head, unable to believe it. "So let me get this straight. You're a vampire with a curse and we can't be together. Then, poof, you're a human with no little clause in the way and we _still_ can't be together?"

          "Buffy—"

          "Shut up," Buffy cut him off sharply, surprising Angel. "Let Buffy decide things for once. First, you break up with me because you want me, the vampire Slayer, to have a _normal_ life because you decided that's what I needed. The key word there is _you_. What _you_ decided." She suddenly grabbed the mug of cocoa and flung it towards Angel. It just missed him and shattered against the wall.

          "Buffy, stop it," Angel reprimanded her.

          "I said shut up," Buffy hissed at him again, continuing to throw whatever random objects she could find. "You break up with me, you go shatter-y with my heart and feelings—"

          Angel suddenly grabbed her by the wrists to prevent her from engaging in any further throwing. He glared down at her as if he would pull the Slayer over his knee right that second for throwing such a tantrum. He'd only seen Buffy act that way once before when she was sixteen and thought the Master was going to kill her.

          "Buffy, you're acting like a child."

          "I don't care!" Buffy practically screamed at him, finally letting the tears loose. "You took everything away from me. My dreams for us, my hope, my memories…" her breath hitched and she had to stop talking.

          "Memories?" Angel repeated softly.

          Buffy shook her head and yanked her hands away from his hold, wiping her tears away. "I-I mean the memories we could have had."

          Angel shook his head in disbelief. "That's not what you meant."

          "Yes, it is," she said, turning her head away from him as more tears overflowed.

          "Buffy, what do you know?" Angel asked seriously, grabbing her by the wrist again forcefully. "What do you know?"

          "Don't touch me," Buffy snapped, taking her hand back. "Just… don't touch me." She sped out of the room then, unable to control the tears.

          Angel didn't go after her, just watched her go. He couldn't believe it. How could she know?

A/N: Ah, summer. The sun's all high and bright and… toasty like. Don't it just make you happy? OK, I'm done being jolly. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9 Bad News

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 9

          "Angel?" he looked up to see Dawn and Gunn standing in the doorway. "What's wrong with Buffy? We heard screaming up here and then she went right passed us out the door."

          "It's a long story, Dawn," Angel said, shaking his head, still trying to conceive it all himself.

          "Did you guys have a fight?" Dawn asked. "Was it one of those couple things?"

          "I don't know if you can call us a couple anymore," Angel said in a whisper.

          Dawn's eyes bulged out with surprise and anger. "You… you hurt her again," she snapped.

          "Dawn—" Angel started, approaching her.

          "This is crazy," Dawn continued. "Every time you're around Buffy gets so happy and ends up completely miserable by the end of the day. You always do this to her."

          "You don't even know what happened," Angel attempted to reason with the teen.

          "I don't have to." Dawn shook her head with a scoff. "I'm glad you're not together anymore. I don't know why my sister falls for vampires. You're all the same. Always trying to hurt her."

          "Well, at least I didn't betray her, Dawn," Angel reminded harshly, causing Dawn to freeze. "When it got tough I didn't throw Buffy out of her own house. From what she told me that was your call."

          Dawn's eyes sparked with painful tears at the truth and cruelty of his words. She turned and ran off down the hall, slamming the door to her bedroom.

          "Popular with the ladies tonight," Gunn remarked.

          "Gunn, just get out," Angel said, sitting back down on the bed.

          "Hold up," Gunn said, putting his hand in the air. "I'm not some little high strong girl. You listen when I talk."

          Angel glanced up at Gunn with surprise, as the black man sounded almost like his father. "What?"

          "What the hell is wrong with you today?" Gunn asked his friend. "You lost what's left of your mind?"

          "Buffy wants us to get back together."

          "So? I thought you were back together already."

          "It's not that simple, Gunn," Angel rationalized. "We have a job and friends back in LA."

          "Yeah, I get that," Gunn nodded. "Beasties better beware when they see you go flying into tombstones." Angel started to say something, but Gunn continued with, "Angel, you can't even take down one lame ass vamp anymore without nearly breaking your leg."

          "I know," Angel admitted lowly.

          "And I know what you're scared of." Angel looked at him, waiting for what Gunn would say. "Being happy."

          "What are you even talking about?"

          "Ever since you met up with Buffy and her friends you been fighting the good fight, taking your scrapes, and doing the suffering thing. Whenever you got to crack even the smallest little smile or whatever you were with Buffy. Then when you got the big happy with Buffy you lost your soul and turned into a psycho."

          "We going somewhere with this?" Angel nudged.

          "Be quiet," Gunn rebuked him, holding up a warning finger, actually making Angel shut his mouth. "You so scared of something bad happening with Buffy you can't even look at the good that'll happen so you decide to break the cute blonde's heart _again_."

          Angel sat in silence, taking in Gunn's lecture. "She is cute, right?" Angel finally said with a smirk.

          "Damn straight," Gunn replied firmly.

          Angel sighed deeply, going to stand by Buffy's vanity. "My entire life I've never been the same person. First Liam, then Angelus, then Angel. When I realized that demon made me human I panicked. I didn't know who or what I was anymore. Am I still Angel or… what?"

          "Yeah, but don't even deny the look I saw on your face when you saw Buffy again," Gunn said, taking Angel's seat on the bed.

          "I can't live without her, Gunn. Not now. Not when we actually have a chance…" he trailed off suddenly.

          "What is it?" Gunn nudged.

          "What if I let her down?" Angel said, glancing into the mirror at his long lost reflection. "I can't even stake a vampire on my own. While she's fighting she has to worry about me getting hurt every second."

          "Do I got super strength?" Angel turned to look at Gunn. "Or super hearing, super speed, or any of that other mess you represent with?"

          "No."

          "But I kick vampire ass on a daily basis, man," said Gunn, standing to get in Angel's face. "I can help you get back into the game. You just gotta try harder. Don't tell me you scared of a challenge."

          "Not a chance," Angel said, turning macho.

          "Cool then." Gunn and Angel smacked hands affectionately. "Now go find that cute blonde."

          Angel smiled softly then headed out, but turned back before he was out of the room. "Hey, Charles?" Gunn looked over at him. "Thank you."

          Gunn nodded his head once, hiding the grin he wanted to let off.

          As Angel headed downstairs, Willow suddenly stepped in front of him on the last step that led into the living room. The red haired witch's eyes had turned so dark with anger that they looked to be black.

          "Just hold it right there, mister," Willow hissed.

          "Willow, you don't have to," Angel assured her. "I was wrong to hurt Buffy in any way and I'm going to go talk to her. Let me pass now?"

          Willow nodded and stepped aside, allowing Angel into the living room and out the front door. "Damn, I'm good," she smiled to herself.

          Buffy hugged herself closely, standing by the large water fountain she and Angel had visited when he'd first got to Rome. Things just seemed so right during that time then Angel had gone through a serious mood swing and he wasn't the same person he was when he'd got there. Buffy glanced into the water to see several dimes and pennies inside. The Slayer shook her head at the people who would honestly waste money on a wish that would never come true. However, she had to admit that when she and Angel had first broken up after her prom, she'd gone to many wishing spots to try to somehow get him back mystically. Up until their earlier fight, Buffy had thought the wishing might have actually worked, but it obviously hadn't.

          "Looks like we have another nice moon tonight." Buffy didn't even have to turn around, recognizing the voice that always gave her goose bumps.

          "What do you want?" she asked lowly.

          "Buffy, you have to know I'm sorry," Angel said sincerely.

          She finally turned to look at him. "What's with the change?"

          "Gunn yelled at me," Angel replied with a little smirk.

          Buffy chuckled to herself. "Good," she said with self-satisfaction.

          "Buffy? You remember don't you? That day we spent together after I moved to LA?"

          "Yeah," Buffy admitted. "Kissing, pier, and all."

          "Why didn't you tell me?" Angel asked her.

          "I told you I'd never forget," Buffy said, approaching him. She took his hand and wrapped it around her waist. "Figured you'd believe me."

          "You've lived with it all this time?"

          "Hasn't exactly been easy. Angel, I love you and that will never change. But you have to stop with this dominant thing. It's not as big a turn on as it was back in eighteen-whatever year you come from."

          Angel smiled gently and brushed back some of her curls out of her eyes. "Buffy, I love you more than anything in this life. The thought of you hurt or… dead, it kills me inside."

          "Well, the thought of you being dust on the side of the road doesn't fill me with the big jollies, either. But we don't have to worry about that anymore." Buffy reached up and touched his chest as if to get close to his heart. "Angel, you're everything I'll ever need."

          "Does that mean you want to try again?" Angel asked.

          Buffy got on tip toes and gave him a loving kiss on the lips. "If that doesn't answer your question then I'm totally insulted."

          Angel pulled her in close and enveloped her lips in a zealous kiss, letting the tiny sprinkles of water that sprayed from the fountain just wash over them.

          Back at the house, Willow and Kennedy sat on the couch, Willow playing in Kennedy's hair. Xander sat on the loveseat, flipping through channels on the TV.

          "So you think they'll be OK?" Kennedy asked.

          "It's just the classic Buffy and Angel saga," said Willow, putting Kennedy's hair into a long braid. "They are so hot for each other, though. They'll work it out."

          "Yeah, our own little modern day Romeo and Juliet," Xander added. "They made me watch that in the ninth grade you know. I would never rent the video of my own free will or anything."

          "We believe you, Sir Macho-lot," Willow smiled at him.

          "You guys are probably right," said Kennedy. "They'll be fine. Plus it helps that Angel's unbelievably gorgeous." Willow and Xander immediately stopped what they were doing and focused all attention on her. "What? I'm gay, not blind."

          At the sound of the doorbell Willow said, "That's probably Buffy and Angel now." She stood from the couch and went to answer the front door. "Wesley?"

          "Willow, hi," the British man greeted.

          "Oh, um, come in," Willow ushered him inside then shut the door behind him. "Angel's not here right now, but Gunn's upstairs."

          "Thank you, but I would like to see them both," said Wesley. "It's important."

          "Willow," Xander said reproachfully, going up to the witch. "What's with the inviting total strangers into our home thing?"

          "Xander, it's Wesley," Willow said, looking at her lifelong friend like he was clueless. "Wesley Wyndham-Pryce?"

          "No way," Xander said, eyeing Wesley's rugged exterior. "Someone needs a razor."

          "Um, hi?" Kennedy greeted, walking up to the others. "I'm Kennedy."

          "Wesley Wyndham-Pryce," said Wesley formally, holding out a hand to her.

          Kennedy shook the hand and said, "Hmm, first Gunn, now you. Are all of Angel's friends hot?" She added immediately at another look from Willow and Xander, "Not blind."

          "Yeah, we should so get a hot tub," Buffy's voice could be heard as the doorknob turned.

          "We could," Angel agreed as the two of them walked in with the help of Buffy's key. "Could be fun, t— Wes."

          "Whoa." Buffy's eyes bugged out at the sight of her former watcher. "And again, whoa."

          "Hello, Buffy," Wesley greeted the Slayer. "How are you."

          "Good," she replied, never taking her eyes off him. "Are you wearing _jeans_?"

          "Wesley, is everything OK?" Angel asked.

          He shook his head. "No, Angel. Everything's not OK."

          "Wes." The room turned their attention to Gunn, who was coming down the stairs. "Hey, man. Ain't seen you in the longest."

          "Gunn, we have problems," Angel told the black man.

          "You find out what was up with Angel?" Gunn asked Wes.

          Wesley sighed as he began recalling everything. The team back in LA finding Angelus and what they'd learned from the demoness in the sewers.

          "From what we found out, this demoness is very powerful," Wesley said. "More powerful than the Gypsies. Yet, we found her in nearly as bad a condition as Angel had been in from Angelus getting ripped from her."

          "Wait a minute," Buffy cut in, more than a little upset. "Are you telling us that he's back?"

          "Yes," Wesley nodded. "But not for long. We've found a way to get rid of him. However, Angel, we need you for this."

          "Just point me in his direction," Angel said determinedly. "Whatever needs doing."

          "I hope you key that attitude in mind," said Wesley then paused for a moment, not sure how to continue. "Angel, we need to put Angelus back inside you."

          "What?" Buffy and Angel exclaimed in unison.

          Wesley continued with, "We need you to be a vampire again."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Now please review while I engage in my meal of chicken noodle soup and pop.


	10. Chapter 10 Spooks

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 10

            "Be a vampire again?" Buffy repeated Wesley's words. "Have you lost _more_ of your mind, Wesley?"

          "Wesley, what are you talking about?" Angel asked him.

          Wesley stuck his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he explained. "Lorne found a spell. With a few ingredients we can reunite Angelus with Angel and give Angel his full strength back."

          "I have a better plan," said Buffy, causing all eyes to focus on her. "Let's not follow your plan. Second plan, I stake the son of a bitch."

          "It's not even close to being that simple, Buffy," Wesley tried to reason. "Angelus has acquired new powers from this demoness. It's impossible to even get near him. He… he also hurt Fred."

          Angel's eyes glossed with sadness and anger. "What?"

          "Will she be OK?" Gunn asked serious, coming closer to Wesley.

          "It's unlikely," Wesley replied with a shake of his head.

          "Oh, no," said Willow lowly and distressingly. "Fred."

          "Angel, I know this is difficult," said Wesley. "But you have to make a choice."

          "He already has," Buffy said, standing in front of Angel protectively. "No vampire. We'll find another way."

          "Buffy?" the Slayer looked up to see Dawn coming down the stairs. She went to stand by Buffy. "What's going on?"

          "Mr. Fuzzy Face here wants to re-vampify Angel," said Buffy, never taking her glare off of Wesley.

          "I'm just not getting it," said Kennedy. "I mean you got two bad ass Slayers right here. I don't care how much power this guy has, let's shove a stake through him."

          "Hold your horses there, Xena," said Xander. "We don't know how big a punch Angelus is packing. And if it's a bigger punch than usual, this cannot end well."

          "Honey, he's right," said Willow to Kennedy. "You weren't around for the whole Angelus clash thing. No good came out of it. Just bad. Lots of _really_ bad… bad."

          "Which is why I don't want him inside of Angel or near him ever again," said Buffy resolutely.

          "Buffy," Angel began.

          Buffy whipped her head around to look at him. "No. Don't even think it."

          "I wasn't," Angel said, his voice gentle. "I don't know what to decide here. All I know is that it's late and we can't solve anything right now. We can try this again in the morning."

          "Yeah," Willow agreed. "Wesley, I can make the couch up for you if you want."

          Wesley nodded his head, a look of gratitude on his face.

          Once everything was situated, Gunn led Wesley into the downstairs den, which had a bed, furniture, and several items of Gunn's neatly folded clothing on top of the dresser.

          "Nice, huh?" said Gunn to his friend. "Not that big, but it's all mine."

          "Attractive," Wesley commented, going to the dresser and picking up a sweatshirt of Gunn's.

          "Hey, man," said Gunn, snatching the shirt. "Took me the longest to fold this stuff. Touch it and pull back a nub."

          "Sorry." Wesley went to sit on the bed, melancholy written all over him.

          "Fred has to be OK, man," Gunn said. "If fang face… I'll kill him."

          "Gunn, we only have one way to stop Angelus," Wesley said, every ounce of seriousness in his voice.

          "Man, you talking taking away what might be Angel's last chance for humanity. He's worked too hard for too many years for this to happen."

          "You think I want this?"

          "It's not about what you want," said Gunn. "It's about what Angel decides to do. And whatever it is, I'll be there for him." He went over to his dresser and fingered the stake he'd gotten from Buffy, as he hadn't thought to bring one of his own along to Rome. "No matter what."

          "I just don't get it," said Dawn, fluffing a pillow in the living room.

          "Yeah, I hate these plaid sheets, too," said Kennedy, helping Willow make up the couch for Wesley. "They seriously make me want to puke."

          "No." Dawn laid the pillow on the couch before taking a seat on the arm of the couch. "Why does Angel have to be a vampire again?"

          "He might not be, Dawnie," said Willow. "He hasn't decided yet."

          "It might be just as well, anyway," Dawn shrugged. "When he's here all he does is try to hurt Buffy. It's not like he deserves her. Maybe he should go away again. For good this time."

          "Dawn," Willow said, surprise in her voice. "Angel has _never_ wanted to hurt Buffy. She's like the whole world to him."

          "Yeah, and I thought you liked Angel," said Kennedy, dropping down on the couch.

          Dawn glanced away, not looking at either of them.

          "Dawn," Willow nudged. "Did something happen?"

          "He said some things," Dawn said lowly. "Some not nice things."

          "What did he say?" Willow asked, putting a gentle hand to the teenager's shoulder.

          "He said I betrayed Buffy… back when everyone was voting her off the island." Dawn sighed before continuing. "And he was right."

          Willow hugged her warmly and said, "Oh, Dawn. Angel was probably just being Mr. Grumpy. He didn't mean anything."

          "None of us were exactly saints toward her," said Kennedy. "I feel your crappiness so don't think you're alone in this."

          "Do you think… Angel might stay here?" Dawn asked, looking into Willow's eyes.

          "Honey, I don't know," said Willow honestly. "All we can do is hope for the best."

          Upstairs, Angel lay in bed next to Buffy, his arm wrapped tightly around her. The feel of Buffy's tiny body against his gave Angel a rush of happiness, a rush he knew he could never experience if he went through with Wesley's plan. It was still so hard to believe. Angelus was back and Angel would be meeting with him for the first time face to face since their little brawl in his mind.

          "Are you asleep?" Angel whispered into Buffy's ear.

          "No matter which way I answer that, it will be a definite no," she replied.

          "I'm not too tired myself."

          Buffy turned around and looked into his chocolate eyes. "Angel, you can't go with Wesley on this."

          Angel reached out and stroked her cheek gently with his finger as he said, "I don't want to. I can't leave you again."

          "Then don't," said Buffy, sitting up in the bed. "Angel, I can't watch you go again. I don't think I'd be able to handle it this time."

          "Shh," Angel cooed gently, sitting up and pulling her close to him. "It's going to be OK. I'll figure something out. I promise."

          "Let's go," Buffy said suddenly.

          "What do you mean?"

          "Let's just go. We can leave right now. I'll go tell Dawn and we'll—"

          "Buffy, you know we can't," said Angel.

          Buffy shook her head with unhappiness. "I know, but I want us to. God, I'm so scared…" she sniffled as tears began to stream out from her eyes.

          Angel held her even closer and rubbed her back. "Buffy, baby, it'll be OK. I promise you. I won't leave you again. I won't." As he held her and listened to her cry, Angel wondered if he could remain true to his words. He would try, that was for sure.

          Late that night, Willow and Kennedy lay in their bedroom. Both had fallen fast asleep after thinking about everything with Angel. Willow moaned lightly in her sleep, feeling what seemed to be a chilled breeze pass over her. The red head slowly opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of a small figure, a man, at the head of her bed, staring at her.

          "Who are you?" Willow demanded.

          "It's all right," the man assured her, Willow hearing an Irish accent in his voice. "Get up." Willow remained where she was, hesitating. "I promise you, it's all right. Now get up."

          Finally, Willow stood up from bed and went to stand before the strange man. It was then that she noticed something as she glanced back towards her bed; she was still in it.

          "Oh, my God!" Willow exclaimed. "I'm dead." She turned to the man. "Am I dead? Why am I dead?"

          "You're not dead," said the man. "Your body is projecting your essence."

          "Projecting?" Willow repeated. "Listen, buddy, I was a ghost once and that Halloween wasn't a very happy one."

          "I've come to help you," he said.

          "Who are you?"

          "My name is Doyle. I'm an old friend of Angel's."

          "Is this is a Scrooge thing?" Willow asked. "Because this is clearly not Angel's room."

          "No, I've come to see you," Doyle told her. "I've been sent momentarily by the powers that be. I know how to help you stop Angelus. The answer is in the Romainet text, towards the middle. Read it, do what it says, and your troubles are over."

          "Well, how do I know you're telling the truth?" Willow asked suspiciously. "Maybe when I read it someone's head will blow up or… catch lice."

          "And what would a dead man have to gain?"

          "OK, point made there."

          "Take care, witch," said Doyle. "And help Angel to keep his happiness."

          "Can do," Willow said with a nod.

          "Willow? Willow?" the next thing the witch knew, she was back in bed right next to Kennedy, who had spoken to her. "Are you talking to yourself?"

          Willow sat up and looked around the bedroom, which was empty. "The little Irish man."

          "Did you have another leprechaun dream, Will?" Kennedy asked, sitting up as well.

          The girl next to her shook her head. "No." Willow got up from the bed and sat down at the small desk, opening her laptop.

          "What are you doing?" Kennedy inquired sleepily.

          "Looking up the Romainet text. If this works then Angel might be here to stay."

          "How do you know?"

          Willow replied as she began surfing the net, "Little Irish man told me."

A/N: Come back for more. In the meantime please review.


	11. Chapter 11 New Hope

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 11

          Buffy moaned as she got up from bed to answer the rapid knock at her door. "Who is it?" she asked with a yawn.

          "It's me," Willow's voice replied.

          "Will, what is it?" Buffy asked, opening the door to see her red haired friend on the other side.

          "Buffy, we need you and Angel downstairs," said Willow. "I found something."

          "What is it?" Buffy wanted to know, snapping out of her tired state.

          "You'll see in a minute," Willow said.

          Buffy wanted to push her further, but just nodded and went to gather Angel.

          Nearly an hour later, the residents of the house had showered, dressed, and all sat around the living room, waiting for Willow to come down. Buffy, Angel, and a very drowsy Dawn sat lined up on the couch, Gunn and Wesley resided on the loveseat, Xander a chair, and Kennedy sat in an armchair.

          "What is taking her so long?" Buffy asked anxiously.

          "She'll be down," Angel assured his girlfriend, putting a comforting arm around her.

          "Sorry it took so long," Willow apologized, coming down the stairs, a few sheets of paper in her hand. She propped up on the arm of Kennedy's chair before facing the gang. "I needed to be thorough on a whole new level of thorough."

          "Willow, what is all of this about?" Wesley asked.

          "Well, last night after much, much, _much_ research into the Romainet text I figured out something," the witch explained. "The explain-y part is a little hard. I stayed up really late working on the perfect speech, though."

          "_Really_ late," Kennedy added dryly.

          "It didn't go so well, though," Willow continued, ignoring the young Slayer's comment. "But I made you all a nice little print out of what I generally have in mind. Now before I show you this, you have to know that this text is more ancient than… another text that's really, really old. It may not work, but we need to do that thing where we hope for the best." Releasing a breath for her quick talking, Willow rose and began handing out the sheets of paper she had to the others in the living room.

          It took a couple of minutes for everyone to finish reading and Willow sat playing with her thumbs, looking very jittery.

          "Willow?" Buffy addressed, once she'd finished reading.

          "Hmm?" Willow responded.

          "This idea…" her blonde friend started.

          "Genius," Wesley supplied.

          "What he said," Buffy said to Willow with a light smile.

          "This is some fancy looking quick thinking, Will," said Xander.

          "Shoot, I barely know what it means and it sounds good to me," said Gunn.

          Dawn asked, "So any chance we're going to be doing the sleep thing again soon?"

          "Willow, I've never seen anything like this before," said Wesley. "What could have led you to the Romainet text?"

          "Oh, just a gentle clue in the night," she replied.

          "I'm completely game," said Angel. "Where do we start?"

          "Wait a second, people," said Willow. "If we want this to happen we should move tonight. It's just that I doubt it if we all have enough air fare for all of—"

          "I have three different credit cards on me," Angel cut her off. "We can make it happen."

          "Ingredients?" Willow asked.

          "If we leave right now we can gather whatever you need," Wesley told her.

          "Great," Buffy said, standing. "Let's get packing, people. Don't fold anything, just stuff whatever into a suitcase and move now."

          At the Slayer's command, the room practically hopped up and all headed upstairs, talking and planning.

Dawn remained where she was and groaned. "I'm guessing we're not going back to sleep?"

It took until nearly two for everything to get ready for the airplane to take off. When the large group arrived in LA it was three o'clock by the city's time.

"Angelkins," Lorne beamed as everyone filed into the hotel. "Gunn face. I haven't seen you two in—"

"There's good magic shop nearby," Angel said to Willow as everyone headed upstairs, completely ignoring Lorne. "We can get what you need."

"Great," said Willow. "Now I'm guessing the sun sets at like seven so everything needs to be ready by then. No mistake."

"Good to see you guys, too," Lorne called up the stairs after the busying group.

          Later, after everyone had found a room in the hotel to occupy, they all split up to do the separate things that needed doing. Willow, Lorne, and Kennedy, supplies ready, went on top the hotel's roof, Buffy, Angel, Dawn, Xander, and Wesley were on the search for Angelus, each with a weapon, and Gunn, although craving a fight more than anything, headed to the hospital.

          "Xander?" Willow's voice called to her friend telepathically.

          "Willow?" Xander responded, also through the mind.

          "We're ready up here. Remember, when you spot Angelus just give him a good swish, slash of the knife and we're good to go."

          "Got it."

          Meanwhile, at the hospital, Gunn sat by Fred's bedside and gently took her hand into his. The pretty girl had a large bandage covering the side of her neck and Gunn, without even having to think, knew that was where Angelus had left his mark on her. The sight of the bandage made Gunn's blood boil, but he kept his rages in check.

          "Hey," Gunn spoke to Fred softly. "It's me. How you doing, girl?" Fred made no sound, just the beep of the machine she was hooked up to. "Not to good. I get that. Look, Fred, you ain't even got to worry. Everybody's out there right now trying to find Angelus. And when we get him his ass is fried." Still not getting a response, Gunn just squeezed Fred's hand tighter and whispered, "Hang in there, Fred."

          Dawn waved the crossbow she carried around through the darkening alleys cautiously as she and the others hunted for Angelus. To be searching for such a monster, Dawn thought the night seemed awfully calm and tranquil, especially for Los Angeles.

          "This is crazy," said Buffy. "When a girl wants a vicious killer to come out and jump at her he's nowhere to be seen. Nice, huh?"

          "We'll find him," Angel promised. "The second he's able to sense me he'll come out."

          "Buff, shouldn't you be getting the super Slayer sensing vampire vibe thing?" Xander asked.

          "Not yet," Buffy sighed.

          "Hold on," said Wesley abruptly, pointing his sword at something in the distance of an alley. "What was that?"

          "Let's not wait to find out," Buffy said, suddenly taking off with a run.

          "Buffy!" Angel shouted after her as he and the rest moved as fast as they could after her.

          "Buffy," said Dawn, approaching her sister, who had stopped running once reaching the figure. "What is it?"

          "It's a couch," Buffy informed them.

          "Oh," Wesley said, slightly embarrassed.

          "It's OK, Wes," said Angel.

          "Yeah, everyone confuses vampires for lazy boy furniture," Xander added.

          "Let's just keep looking," said Buffy, turning to leave.

          Everyone suddenly stood frozen, hearing strange sounds all around them. From out of nowhere, a circle of vampires appeared, surrounding the group. Buffy and Angel glanced upward to see a few more of them on the roofs.

          "Uh oh," Dawn squeaked.

          Angelus took that moment to leap for the roof, landing in front of his advisories. "What? You didn't expect me to be solo for this little showdown did you?"

          "Angelus," Angel glared, narrowing his eyes at the one enemy he hated more than any other foe he had ever come up against.

          "Angel," Angelus smirked. "Been a while. Say, if you're up for it we have time to bag a few virgins. I know how you love the nuns, too."

          Buffy held her baseball bat like stake readily. "Well, at this moment in time you better hope those particular nuns have mercy on your non-soul."

          Angelus smirked increased at the sight of Buffy. "Hey there, Buff. Haven't seen you since… oh, right. Since we had that fun filled night of boning." His words caused the grimace Buffy wore to increase. "No, it wasn't that. The last time I saw you, we were sword fighting. Now how did that end, Angel? With a sword to your chest as I recall." Angelus scoffed as he added, "Tough love. It's a beautiful thing."

          "Continue with the talking thing," Buffy said to the vampire. "In the last year I trained a group of potential Slayers, destroyed the first evil, and watched as my town was made into a crater. So I'm thinking that you and the kicking of the ass, not my biggest challenge."

          "If that's the way you want to play it, Blondie." Angelus glanced around at his vampire army and nodded towards all of them.

          The vampires began attacking all at once, not even giving Buffy and the others time to get their weapons ready.

          One of the vampires, a young male, backed Dawn up into a corner of the alley. The teenager fired an arrow from the crossbow, managing to shoot the undead menace in the chest. She released a horrid scream as she felt herself get grabbed up without any notice.

          "Hey, Dawn, right?" Angelus said, his arm wrapped tightly around Dawn's throat. "Look at you. You finally outgrew the braces phase. Bet you taste like a real woman now." Angelus released a painful groan, accidentally freeing Dawn of his hold, allowing her to run off.

          "Thanks," said Xander, holding up a bloody dagger. "Owe you one, dude." He sped from the alley before Angelus had a chance to grab him or retort.

          "Hey, good looking." Angelus glanced up from his bloody shoulder to see Buffy standing before him, stake aimed high. "I just got a sudden urge to do some heavy duty dusting. You up for it?"

          "Only if you are, lover." Angelus immediately gave her a backhanded punch to the face, making the Slayer grunt.

          Buffy returned the punch, also giving the vampire a swift kick to the upper abdomen. The pair continued to go blow for blow, sounds of vampires turning to dust and fighting going on all around them. Finally, Angelus deflected Buffy's stake nearly making contact with his chest and took her by the throat, holding her up against a wall.

          "You know what I love about you Slayers?" Angelus asked lowly as he clutched her throat even tighter. "Getting to see your eyes pop out."

          Buffy gasped loudly as she was released from Angelus' hold by Angel decking him in the jaw.

          "You again," said Angelus to Angel. "You still haven't figured it out have you?" He clouted Angel upside the head, making him topple to the ground. "Without me, you're nothing. That's what you were before me and that's what you are now."

          "Yeah," Angel breathed. "And here I thought having sanity was more rewarding them being a homicidal maniac. Could be wrong, though."

          Angelus gave his other half a sharp kick in the chin, making Angel fall to his back, coughing up a large mess of blood. Buffy rushed up to the scene, but Angelus simply took her throat again and tossed her off into a pair of trash cans. Angelus turned back towards Angel and picked him up by the shirt.

          "Let's join forces again…" Angelus vamped out and knelt towards Angel's neck. "Shall we?"

A/N: I just started a new job. There is good news and bad news with that. The bad news is that I might not be able to update as frequently. The good news is, well, I'm making money. Guess that's mostly just good for me, huh? Please review!


	12. Chapter 12 Grant Our Wish

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 12

          Angel closed his eyes tightly, so tight that they began to hurt. He braced himself for the feel of Angelus' fangs as they leaned in closer towards him, making a light contact with Angel's neck before Angelus pulled back abruptly.

          The vampire scoffed, "You don't deserve this. This is way too good for you." He dropped Angel back to the ground and glared down at him, more than anger in his eyes. "I'll just take the strength you have left inside of you and let you suffer a slow, agonizing death. But, hey, no hard feelings, OK?"

          "I suggest you back off him," Wesley said, stepping up to the scene, sword in hand.

          Angelus rolled his eyes upward and simply held up a hand. "Not a good time, Wes."

          Wesley groaned and collapsed to his knees as Angelus' dark energy secreted from his hand, draining the British man in the most painful of ways.

          "Wes," Angel whispered his friend's name, watching the goings on in horror.

          "Back off!" Dawn exclaimed, charging towards Angelus, hitting him with her crossbow so hard it broke on him.

          Angelus dropped his hold on Wesley and turned to Dawn. "That hurt you know," the vampire said. "Not a nice move, Dawnie."

          Dawn shrieked as Angelus grabbed hold of her and vamped out.

          "Hey, Willow!" Xander called, running up to the witch.

          Willow sat in the middle of a circle of candles, several spices and dried flowers sprinkled around her. A serious expression covered her face, as if she were both angry and prepared for anything.

          "You got it," Kennedy said to Xander as he handed over the blood stained dagger he carried. "You actually stabbed him."

          "Took some doing, but I gave him a swipe so hard I'm pretty sure I saw tears," Xander said, completely bragging.

          "Would that be his or yours?" Kennedy asked with a smirk.

          "Willow," Lorne said, making his way up top the Hyperion roof. "Took me a while, but I got that ancient Romain statue you needed. I think Fred was using it as a paper weight."

          "Romain?" Xander inquired in confusion as Lorne placed the tiny statue in front of Willow.

          "We need it for the spell," Kennedy explained. "The Romainet people followed their leader, Romain. He was this ancient sorcerer that dealt with things like this."

          "Gotcha," Xander nodded.

          "Ready?" Willow finally asked, breaking her own silence.

          The three around her nodded as Willow shut her eyes, getting ready.

          Dawn tugged at Angelus' arm as much as she could, trying to free herself from his tight hold. Wesley stood with his sword again and Angel had gotten to his feet, both wanting to get a serious piece of the vampire.

          "Go ahead, boys," Angelus challenged. "Try to grab her. See if I can snap her neck before you can wiggle a finger."

          "Let her go." The four of them in the alley turned to see that Buffy had gotten back up. "I said let her go, Angelus."

          "Or what?" Angelus taunted. "You'll ask me again and add a please?"

          "I'll force you to let her go," Buffy replied simply. "Doubt it'll be my biggest challenge ever."

          "How about watching your sister's eyes roll back in her head?" Angelus asked, taking his hand to Dawn's throat. "A good strangle could handle that one." Dawn, feeling desperation ride through her, bit down on Angelus' forearm as hard as she could, hard enough for him to accidentally let her go.

          Dawn went to stand by her sister and said, "Doesn't feel good when you're on the ouchie end does it?"

          "Buffy," said Angel.

          "It's about time we finish this," Buffy said to Angelus, raising her stake. "Once, for all, and… all that other stuff."

          "Buffy," Angel said, raising his voice and clutching his stomach.

          The Slayer continued to ignore Angel as she continued with, "You told me what you love about Slayers. Now how about I tell you what I like about vamps? Oh, right. Sticking the pointy, wooden object through your hearts."

          Angel suddenly collapsed to the ground, landing on his side. He released a sharp groan, finally getting Buffy's attention. The blonde was at his side in a moment's time, holding his brown haired head to her knee.

          "The spell," Angel grunted, continuing to grip his stomach as throbs of pain shot through him. "Willow's spell."

          "It's wearing off," Buffy figured out, alarm in her voice. "Angel, please, try to hang on for a minute."

          "I don't think either of you have that long," said Angelus with a smirk as he approached the couple.

          "Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed, attempting to run to her sister's aid.

          "Down, girl," Angelus said, simply waving her hand, shooting Dawn down with his dark energy.

          "Dawn," Wesley grunted, crawling over to the teenager, as he was still weak from Angelus' previous attack on him.

          "Well, _Buff_, look around," Angelus said to her. "All your friends down, your boyfriend looking like he has about two seconds to go on, life is just hell for you, ain't it?"

          "You'll know hell when I'm done with you," Buffy said menacingly.

          "You know, this new power thing of mine is pretty cool when you think about it," the vampire said. "I've sucked the energy from more than dozens so far. But I wonder how a Slayer's strength feels." Angelus unexpectedly took hold of Buffy and held her against him by her arms as he began to drain her, causing the Slayer to writhe in his grip.

          Buffy stood frozen as he held her, unable to even gasp for breath.

          Angel, watching it, scanned the alley frantically then spotted Wesley's sword and took hold of it. Feeling even more painful pings than before, Angel stood and lowered his deep chocolate eyes at Angelus, ready to do more than just a little damage. He swung back and cut Angelus in the same area of his shoulder Xander had stabbed him in.

          "Keep your hands off my girl," Angel ordered lowly.

          "God," Angelus yelled, dropping Buffy. "That actually smarted. Didn't think you had it in you, Angel."

          "Just like I'm no longer in you," said Angelus, never removing the glare on his face. "And never will be again."

          Angelus smiled at him for a moment then suddenly pulled back and smacked Angel in the face so hard it sent him flying out of the alley, onto the sidewalk.

          "Yeah, well, I kind of don't need you," said Angelus. "Got the Slayer juices."

          Buffy panted for air and scowled up at Angelus.

          "Oh, Romain," Willow's voice chanted through the air, lit candles surrounding her. "Hear our call and grant our wish."

          "Look at you," said Angelus to Angel, who could barely get up from where he was on the sidewalk. "In love with a Slayer, one of the do-gooders, and even dependant on magic spells just to keep breathing. I don't think anything is sicker."

          "How about you look in a mirror?" Buffy suggested. "Oh, right. That'd be a little hard for you."

          Angelus pulled Buffy up to him, making her groan and struggle. "Your powers are the best I've felt. How about another taste?"

          "Grant us our wish," Willow continued to chant, her red air swaying with the mystical air about her.  "Free the champion and drain the beast. Let the champion obtain what should be his own."

          "You can take my power," Buffy said to Angelus. "You can go uber empty of the Buffy. It won't save you. Somewhere, whether it's me or whoever, a Slayer will stop you."

          "For final words…" Angelus thought for a moment. "Well, those kind of sucked."

          "Let the champion obtain what should be his own," Willow kept on.

          "Fred," Gunn said to the ailing girl. "Come on, girl. You need to wake up. You have to wake up. I know what happened between us before, but I never stopped loving you. You have to know that, Fred. Just wake up and tell me you know that."

          Fred, a light moan escaping her lips, opened her eyes slowly. "Charles?"

          A huge smile covered the black man's face as he took her hand. "Shh, I'm here, babe."

          "Is it over?" Fred whispered. "What has Angelus done."

          Gunn brushed back some of her brown hair with his finger and replied, "It ain't over. Not as long as Angel and Buffy are out there, it's nowhere near over."

          "Romain, please, drain the beast and allow the champion to obtain what should be his own." Willow felt a sensational glow surround her as she screamed, "Let the champion obtain what should be his own!"

          Buffy watched in awe as Angelus was the one to finally fall to the ground. He moved around in such a wild motion it was like he was having a seizure. The vampire let off an ear piercing scream, making Buffy and everyone else in the alley cover their ears immediately. Some form of illumination exploded from Angelus' body and shot like an arrow towards Angel, covering the man.

          "Angel!" Buffy shouted, running to him, unknowingly gaining every ounce of her strength back in that frantic motion. She dropped next to Angel as the light faded. "Are you all right? If you're not all right then just lie and tell me you're all right."

          "Why lie?" Angel smiled up at her as he stood wit her. "Honesty would work well at this point."

          "Oh, Angel!" Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him forcefully.

          Angel hugged her back, stroking her golden hair.

          "Uh, guys," Dawn said, getting the two's attention back. "We got one bad guy down."

          Buffy and Angel turned to look at Angelus, who just remained on the ground frozen, but trying to breath.

          "I think Willow's spell succeeded," said Wesley, getting up then helping Dawn to her feet.

          Angel reached out his hand and looked his arm over. It seemed to somehow be stronger "I think so, too."

          "Angelus' power," said Buffy, going into realization. "It went all blast-y inside of you."

          "Wait," said Dawn. "Then that must mean…"

          "Angelus is a regular man." A smile actually escaped Wesley's lips. "No power whatsoever."

          Buffy smirked as she approached Angelus and went to stand over him. "No power, huh?" She knelt down and picked up the stake she'd dropped. "I really like the sound of that."

          "Buffy, don't," Angel stopped her.

          "What?" the entire alley asked him.

          "Angel, come on," said Buffy. "This is the one time the we-good-guys-don't-kill-humans clause thing-y doesn't apply."

          "I know," said Angel, taking his sword. "I have to do this."

          Buffy understood it and nodded. "Go for it."

          Angel went to stand over Angelus' head and held the sword up over his own.

          "You can't," Angelus' weakened voice murmured. "You wouldn't."

          With one clear swipe of the sword, Angelus' head was off.

          "Oh, so ew," Dawn said, turning away from the incredibly bloody scene, burying her face in Wesley's shirt.

          Angel dropped the sword and released a large sigh. Buffy smiled a sweet, gentle smile and went to embrace Angel, who put his arm around her tiny waist. It was finally over.

A/N: Wow, just one more chapter to go. I can't believe we've finally made it this far. Please review!


	13. Chapter 13 Together Forever

New Way of Life

NOTE: I do not own these Angel and Buffy characters, but if you see anyone whom you do not recognize, he/she belongs to me.

A/N: This story takes place after Chosen, but before Conviction, meaning it's the summer in between. To put down a recap, Spike burned up, everyone (minus Anya) escaped on the school bus, Buffy and her friends haven't split up yet, and Angel Inc is preparing to move into W&H. On with the story…

CHAPTER 13

          "It was so weird," said Dawn as she, Gunn, and Fred headed down the stairs of the Hyperion, going into the lobby. "Angelus hit me with this weird dark light thing and it was like I was high or something. Not that I've ever been high. I know people, though."

          "I know what you mean," Fred agreed, rubbing the side of her neck. "I read all about them, but I never knew vampire bites could hurt so badly."

          "Hey, I'm just glad you're OK," said Gunn. "Because if something had happened to you…"

          Fred reached out and gently caressed the side of his brown cheek. "It didn't. I'm fine." She leaned in towards him and gave him a light kiss on the lips, which he gave back in return.

          Dawn smiled, but then pouted, as she never got to kiss the cute guy.

          Lorne sat next to Xander on a couch, across from where Willow and Kennedy occupied an arm chair.

          "I have to hand it to you, mega witch," said Lorne. "I've never seen any mojo like that before."

          "Thanks," Willow smiled a bit bashfully. "I'm just glad it worked."

          "Willow's been at this for years you know," Xander piped up. "A while ago this evil priest guy took out one of my eyes and Will totally worked the healing hocus pocus."

          "Even though the healing potion blew up a couple of times," Kennedy added.

          "Minor flaw, Ken," said Xander. "Minor flaw."

          The door to the basement opened suddenly, revealing Angel and Wesley, both in workout clothes.

          "Hey, boys," said Lorne. "So how's the verdict?"

          "Angelus' powers have been completely transferred to Angel," said Wesley, who panted heavily. "It proved so in the session we just had."

          "I threw him across the basement a few times," Angel couldn't help, but smile.

          "Well, don't you feel special?" Angel turned to look at a very miffed Dawn.

          "Come on, Dawn," said Angel, coming upon her. "Still mad at me?"

          "A little," Dawn replied, crossing her arms.

          Angel removed his wallet from the pocket of his jeans and took out a card, handing it over to the teenager. "Well, would this change your mind?"

          Dawn looked at the card to see that it was a Visa with her name on it. "No way! What's the limit on this thing?"

          "Oh, around… " Angel smirked before continuing. "Eight hundred dollars."

          "Are you trying to bribe me?" Dawn asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Angel just nodded in reply. Dawn squealed and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I love you so, so much."

          "Love you, too," Angel said, tossing her hair a little.

          When Dawn went off to show her new credit card to Willow, Angel noticed that someone was missing; the other Summers woman. He glanced out towards the front garden to see Buffy standing with her arms folded in front of a rose bush. Angel slipped away from the others and went outside.

          "Hey," Angel greeted Buffy. "What are you doing out here?"

          "Good fight last night, huh?" said Buffy.

          "Yeah, it was."

          "Good outcome for you. Angelus is dead, you have your powers, and now you can stay here and start up Angel Investigations again."

          "What are you talking about?" Angel asked seriously.

          Buffy finally turned to look at him. "You said it before. You have a business here that you can't just drop, remember?"

          "I know," Angel said then slowly stepped out, allowing the sun to shine down on him brightly. "I also remember something else said. That I wouldn't leave you. Well, that's the one I want to stick to."

          "Are you serious?"

          "Buffy, I've been fighting with myself ever since I got my soul. I've been alone, friends or no, for years. When I was human, a vampire, the world's champion, I was never truly happy until I met you. You're honestly what keeps me going. I love you, Buffy, and if you think I'm leaving you again you're crazy."

          "Do you mean that?" she asked, blinking her hazel eyes.

          Angel pulled her towards him and gave her a large kiss, sliding his tongue delicately over hers. "What do you think?"

          Buffy enfolded her arms around his neck. "Just checking. I love you, too."

          The two came in closer, kissing each other passionately.

          "Oh, my God. Are we staying in LA?" Dawn's voice asked.

          Angel and Buffy suddenly broke apart to see everyone that had been in the lobby, standing in the garden, watching the scene.

          "I think I like Rome better," said Angel.

          "Me, too," Buffy smiled at him.

          "Wes, how would you like to own one Wolfram and Hart?" Angel asked the British man.

          Wesley nodded. "Sounds like an honor."

          "Make me proud," said Angel.

          "Looks like we're going Rome or bust again," said Gunn.

          "You're coming back with us?" Angel asked his friend.

          "You're coming back with them?" Fred echoed Angel.

          Gunn shrugged and said to Angel, "Man, we started this Rome thing together and I want us to keep it that way."

          Angel smiled a little and reached out to Gunn, slapping hands affectionately with him.

          Fred looked disappointed, but kept a good face about it.

          "Well, looks like celebration is in order," said Lorne. "Now I have wine, scotch and soda, and a light merlot."

          "That spell took a lot out of me," said Willow. "I could use a drink."

          "I hear scotch is good for the soul," Xander said.

          Buffy turned to Angel and said, "Yeah, well, personally I'm up for cookies. You?"

          It took him a moment, but Angel realized what she was talking about. "Delicious," he replied before the couple went for another kiss, even more passionate than before, embracing each other in the most loving of ways.

A/N: It's over. I can't believe it's over! No fair. Oh, well. One question. Sequel, anyone? I hope you had as much fun with this story as I did. I truly do. Now… please review!


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